Five AGs Submitted Comments Opposing EPA’s Reversal on Clean Water Act Protections Against Discharges Through Groundwater

MAY 21, 2018

Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh led a coalition of five attorneys general in submitting comments opposing the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) reversal of its longstanding position that federal Clean Water Act protections apply to the discharge of pollutants that move from point sources into surface waters via a short and direct groundwater or other intermediary conduit. The EPA’s long-held position comports with the plain text of the Clean Water Act and extensive judicial precedent, and provides states with essential protections from unpermitted, upstream discharges of harmful pollutants.