UPDATE: EPA Issues Rule to Curb Construction-Site Pollution
By Judith Burns Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a final rule Monday aimed at reducing pollution from construction sites, saying that will significantly improve the quality of water nationwide.
The rule will be phased in over four years, starting in February, and when it is fully in effect, the EPA estimates there will be four billion fewer pounds of sediment discharged from construction sites each year.
"It's a a significant step in the right direction," said Natural Resources Defense Council consultant and attorney Jeffrey Odefey.
Contractors disagreed with the EPA's approach, saying federal rules aren't needed and will harm a struggling industry plagued with high unemployment.
"It's deeply troubling to see the EPA putting out a rule that will significantly increase the cost of virtually every type of construction project in the United States," said Brian Turmail, a spokesman for the Associated General Contractors of America, an industry trade group. "If you were looking for a way to keep the construction unemployment rate above 18.7%, they've just done it." Nearly 82,000 home builders, commercial and industrial building contractors and civil engineering companies are expected to be covered by the rule, which the EPA estimates will impose about $953 million of annual costs.
Such costs could raise home prices and cause a small number of builders to go out of business, resulting in some job losses, the EPA said in a draft version of the final rule. It said job losses may be temporary given the relatively high turnover in the construction industry, and acknowledged that the new rule is being introduced at a time when construction has fallen off sharply.
"However, the four year phasing process is expected to give the industry sufficient time to experience several years of growth before all the rule requirements are in effect," the EPA draft said.
The multi-year phase-in wasn't part of the rule when it was first proposed, and such groups as the NRDC weren't pleased with the go-slow approach. Odefey said the construction industry is more vulnerable to business cycle changes than regulatory costs, and that "there are significant economic benefits to be gained" from using new methods to control construction run-off.
Construction site owners and operators covered by the rule will have to use best management practices, including soil stabilization and erosion control, to ensure that soil that is excavated, moved or otherwise disturbed by construction activity does not pollute nearby bodies of water. In addition, owners and operators at larger construction sites will be subject for the first time to federal monitoring requirements and limits on storm water discharges. The monitoring requirements will take effect first at sites that disturb 20 or more acres and eventually at sites of 10 or more acres.
The EPA said the rule, which will establish minimum national standards, is intended to work in concert with existing state and local regulations that may be more stringent.
Adoption of the rule came in response to a court order in a lawsuit brought by a handful of states and non-profit environmental groups, including the NRDC, alleging that the agency had failed to issue regulations required under the Clean Water Act. A U.S. district court ordered the EPA to issue the rule no later than Dec. 1, 2009.
A spokesman for the National Association of Home Builders could not be reached immediately for comment. The group took a dim view of the EPA proposal in a comment letter earlier this year, saying it isn't needed because existing state and local regulations offer adequate protections against sediment discharges from construction sites.
-By Judith Burns, Dow Jones Newswires, 202-862-6692; Judith.Burns@dowjones.com
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Publié le 23 novembre 2009 Copyright © 2009 Dowjones
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