The Charles River deserves protection from polluted stormwater runoff. Photo: Jarvis Chen
As President Trump has set about dismantling large chunks of the federal government, he has made the Environmental Protection Agency a prominent and troubling target. The administration’s moves to strip funding, drive out career employees, and appoint a fossil fuel fan as the head of the EPA all threaten the agency’s future as chief enforcer of our bedrock environmental laws.
CLF is near the finish line of two major campaigns involving the EPA, both crucial to protecting New England’s waters. We won’t quit until they’re complete – no matter what obstacles the Trump administration puts in our way.
Consolidating responsibility for agricultural water pollution in Vermont
For years, Vermont’s state government has controlled water pollution from farms inefficiently and ineffectively. The responsibility for regulating agricultural water pollution was awkwardly split between the Agency of Natural Resources and the Agency of Agriculture. The result? Confusing, inconsistent regulation enforcement that left farmers at a loss and waters fouled.
CLF intervened to clean up this mess, petitioning the EPA to force the state to address the issue. The EPA informed the state that its efforts to reduce agricultural pollution were insufficient and violated the federal Clean Water Act. It ordered the state to consolidate the power to manage agricultural pollution that comes from a specific, identifiable source under the Agency of Natural Resources.
Much work remains for the state to meet the requirements of the EPA’s order. That’s why it’s critical for the federal agency to follow through with its oversight. While the Trump administration is unlikely to nix the effort directly, reduced funding and staffing might lead the agency to place this critical work on the back burner.
Following through on protecting waterways from runoff
There’s a loophole in the Clean Water Act that CLF has been fighting for more than two decades. The EPA doesn’t automatically manage polluted stormwater runoff from large private properties – think shopping malls, office parks, and universities – like it does pollution from other sources. That creates a regulatory gap through which toxic pollution can (and does) flow.
That’s where a provision of the Clean Water Act called Residual Designation Authority comes in. This tool gives the EPA the power to require those large private property owners to obtain pollution permits for certain waterways. CLF has pioneered the use of this little-known tool to successfully pressure the EPA to protect waterways from Maine’s Long Creek to Rhode Island’s Mashapaug Pond.
Most recently, following years of lawsuits and advocacy alongside the Charles River Watershed Association, we successfully used Residual Designation Authority to get the EPA to issue a draft permit to limit stormwater runoff in the Charles, Mystic, and Neponset rivers. As of this writing, the agency is currently receiving public comments on revising the draft permit.
This permit has the potential to drastically lower pollution in these iconic rivers, ensuring healthier waters for the people and communities that depend on them.
None of this work will come to fruition, however, unless the EPA finalizes the permit and finally manages and limits stormwater runoff. But there’s no clear deadline for the agency to do so. If Trump’s appointees order the agency not to move forward or gut the agency so they don’t have the staff or budget to make progress on the permit, this issue could face major delays.
How can we protect progress on these critical clean water issues?
CLF has fought long and hard for these victories, and we’re not backing down now.
Vermonters who care about clean water can’t wait. As a result of agricultural runoff, beloved waterways like Lake Champlain are being choked by toxic blue-green algae. Continuing to mismanage farms’ pollution will drive the problem to new depths. CLF is prepared to use all our resources, including potential litigation, to hold the EPA and the State accountable for their responsibilities.
If the EPA drags its feet on issuing a final permit for the Charles, Mystic, and Neponset rivers, we’ll keep pushing until it finally does. Our rivers deserve to be protected from major polluters in Greater Boston, including prominent universities like Harvard, MIT, and Boston University.
The agency has an obligation to protect these rivers. If the EPA goes so far as to retract its designation of the rivers altogether, we’ll see them in court.
New England’s waters can’t wait. The Trump administration might not care about protecting our precious natural resources, but we do, and we’re not backing down.
