The Environmental Protection Agency proposed two new rules Monday to protect drinking water from harmful waste chemicals, amid criticism that a toxic spill the agency caused in the West earlier this month has done just the opposite.
“One of the proposed rules will protect waterways, including drinking and surface water, by preventing the flushing of hazardous waste pharmaceuticals and simplifying the requirements for healthcare workers,” the agency said. “The other rule will provide greater flexibility to industry while requiring new safeguards to protect the public from mismanagement of hazardous waste.”
Overall, the agency says the rules will “strengthen environmental protection while reducing regulatory burden on businesses.”
The two new rules come as both Democrats and Republicans are targeting a toxic wastewater spill that the EPA caused in Colorado that polluted the waterways of three states. A number of congressional hearings have been scheduled to examine the spill, which occurred Aug. 5 at the abandoned Gold King Mine in Colorado when an EPA contractor accidentally caused 3 million gallons of contaminated wastewater to spill into the Animas River.
The spill created a toxic yellow plume of heavy metals that polluted the waterways of Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. GOP lawmakers argue that the EPA has floundered in its duties to protect the nation’s water resources to instead focus on more lofty policy goals such as climate change.
EPA assistant administrator Mathy Stanislaus, who coincidentally has been overseeing the toxic spill response in the West, said Monday’s “proposals will improve the safety and health of our communities by providing clear, flexible and protective hazardous waste management standards.”
The rules are not directly related to the mine accident, but the timing of the rules coincides with congressional and internal EPA investigations into the spill that have placed increased scrutiny on the EPA’s clean water programs.
The EPA says the proposed pharmaceuticals rule will prevent the flushing of more than 6,400 tons of hazardous pharmaceutical waste that make their way annually into drinking water “by reducing the amount of pharmaceuticals entering our waterways.”
The proposed rule will reduce the burden on healthcare workers and pharmacists working in healthcare facilities by creating a specific set of regulations for the facilities, including hospitals, clinics and retail stores with pharmacies and reverse distributors that generate hazardous waste.
“EPA’s proposed generator rule will enhance the safety of facilities employees and the general public by improving labeling of hazardous waste and emergency planning and preparedness,” the EPA said. “The proposal will also reduce burden by providing greater flexibility in how facilities and employees manage their hazardous waste and make the regulations easier to understand.”
