A major water infrastructure bill introduced Monday by the Republican leadership would put states back in charge of enforcing one of the Environmental Protection Agency’s costly coal rules, while making sure the agency pays for the damage it caused states during last year’s toxic waste water spill in Colorado.
The new Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation bill includes pending water resources and water waste bills, as well as significant tribal and natural resources legislation, and other important measures to improve the nation’s infrastructure, according to a fact sheet.
The Senate and House passed water resources bills earlier this year to fund numerous water projects in the country, and Monday’s bill is the result of ongoing discussions to work out differences between the two chambers’ bills. The legislation introduced in the chambers matches up on the coal rules, but the Senate version contains the toxic waste spill provisions.
The coal waste provisions would block environmental groups from being able to sue to enforce EPA’s coal ash rule. The rule currently allows for green groups to file citizen suits if they don’t believe the industry or state has taken proper actions to enforce the federal regulations.
Republicans have been attempting for years to curtail the citizen suits, which are allowed under the Clean Air Act. The bill introduced Monday would force the EPA to leave implementation of the coal ash rule up to the states.
“This new permitting authority fixes the main problems with the recent coal ash regulation issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, by removing citizen suits as the sole means of enforcement and allowing states to tailor permit requirements on a case-by-case basis,” said Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee Chairman James Inhofe, R-Okla., in a joint statement with a group of senators who included Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
Manchin is reportedly being considered by President-elect Trump for his Cabinet, perhaps as energy secretary or secretary of state.
“We’re happy that we were able to work with our colleagues in the House and Senate on a bipartisan basis to get this important legislation across the finish line,” the senators said.
The EPA coal ash rule deals with waste from coal-fired power plants and is considered one of the many regulations on the coal industry being blamed for driving up costs and putting miners out of work.
The second significant measure included in the new legislation would force the EPA to pay states hurt by the 2015 Gold King Mine disaster in Colorado, which sullied the waterways of three states, including Colorado, News Mexico and Utah.
EPA caused the spill when a contractor it employed released 3 million gallons of waste water from the mine contaminated by toxic heavy metals.
New Mexico is fighting the EPA in court or reimbursements for the damages the spill did to the state’s crops and to recoup it for clean-up expenses.
The bill also authorizes funding for the city of Flint, Mich., but the money will be appropriated through a short-term spending bill to fund the government that is expected to be passed this week. Flint’s drinking water supply was contaminated by dangerously high levels of lead resulting from a plan to change the source of the city’s water supply.
Both House and Sente versions agree to authorize spending for Flint at $170 million.
The bill is already drawing condemnation from some Senate Democrats about the House version, which includes controversial language to help California recover from its ongoing drought, while harming endangered species.
Outgoing Sen. Barbara Boxer of California, the top Democrat on Inhofe’s committee, said she was shocked that House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., allowed the language.
“I was stunned to see comments made by Kevin McCarthy that the outrageous poison pill that he is trying to place on [water resources bill] is ‘a little, small disagreement’ on the California drought,” Boxer said in a statement. “I will use every tool at my disposal to stop this last-minute poison pill rider.”
The McCarthy measure would allow the release of large amounts of water from dams to aid California. Democrats also say that, in addition to the environmental harm the release would cause, the McCarthy language would undermine federal authority when it comes to the nation’s dams.
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah, said the compromise is a “no-brainer” and said the bill should pass the House.
“This is a big step forward for people who live in the West and are suffering from drought,” he said. “We have finally agreed to the premise that we should store more water before it flows into the ocean.”
