Blog: EPA muddies the water on permitting discharges to groundwater and what the Biden administration will likely do about it
The EPA did issue a draft guidance memorandum relating to the County of Maui decision, notice of which was published in the Federal Register on December 10, 2020. However, instead of clarifying the seven criteria stated by the Court in County of Maui or the application of those criteria, the EPA took seven and half pages to state three truisms and added an additional criteria not stated in the Court’s decision bringing the total number of factors to consider in determining whether a discharge to ground water is the functional equivalent of a discharge to navigable waters to eight.