Report to Congress on Integrated Plans to Comply with the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2019: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Announces Issuance

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued a document titled:

Report to Congress on Integrated Plans to Comply with the Water infrastructure Improvement Act of 2019 (“Report”)

The Water Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2019 (“H.R. 7279”)(“Act”) required that EPA document to Congress the implementation of the federal agency’s 2012 Integrated Municipal Stormwater and Wastewater Planning Approach Framework (“Integrated Planning Framework”).

The Integrated Planning Framework was created to help municipalities:

• Address competing clean water infrastructure investment needs
• Choose the most beneficial approaches for setting priorities
• Undertaking effective actions for achieving water quality goals

EPA describes the Report as a:

. . . culmination of a nationwide scan, from March 2019 until July 2020, to determine how many municipalities have developed plans and which ones are implemented through permits, orders, or judicial consent decrees since EPA’s Integrated Planning Framework was released on June 5, 2012.

The Report’s Executive Summary describes as key findings:

• Twenty-seven municipalities have developed integrated plans in accordance with EPA’s Integrated Planning Framework.
• Thirteen municipalities’ integrated plans are being implemented through a permit, order, or judicial consent decree.
  • Six integrated plans are being implemented through permits.
  • One integrated plan is being implemented through an administrative order.
  • Six integrated plans are being implemented through consent decrees or consent orders.

EPA is also required to report for each integrated plan implemented through a permit, order, or judicial consent decree:

• Costs
• Control measures
• Level of controls
• Compliance schedules

The Executive Summary of the Report notes that EPA’s review of integrated plans and conversations with 13 municipalities determined:

• Proposed budgets to implement integrated planning projects ranged from $15 million to $2 billion, with an average of $745 million.
• Integrated plans evaluated controls to prevent untreated sewage, partially treated sewage, and stormwater from entering waterways. They included controls for combined sewer overflows, sanitary sewer overflows, stormwater discharges, and wastewater treatment facilities.
• The schedules proposed in the integrated plans ranged from 5 years to 30 years, with an average of 21 years.

A copy of the Report can be downloaded here.