Petitions to the Office of Water
This page makes available petitions for rulemaking received by the Office of Water on or after January 1, 2013. For the purposes of this page, the agency has posted incoming communications styled as "petitions" for generally applicable, national rulemakings. Petitions provided as comments in a publicly available rulemaking docket are not reproduced here. Additional petitions will be added on an ongoing basis as they are received or identified; petitions on this page were last updated on July 26, 2023.
The presence of a petition on this page does not indicate an EPA decision to grant or deny the petition. Any regulatory action that follows as a result of a petition for rulemaking would still be shaped by the typical outreach used by the agency to gather stakeholder input, and is still subject to any applicable notice and comment requirements. Petitions for rulemaking from other offices.
Date | Petitioners | Related Statutes | Description |
---|---|---|---|
May 14, 2013 | Earthjustice | Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 303(c)(4) |
Final Petition for Rulemaking to Set Water Quality Standards to Protect Appalachian Waters from Mining Waste and Harmful Levels of Conductivity. Read the petition. |
September 20, 2015 | E. Brotzman | Clean Water Act (CWA) |
Rulemaking petition to expand coverage over the number of Animal Feeding Operations (AFOs) that qualify as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOS) under CWA. Read the petition: E. Brotzman – CAFOS Sept 20, 2015 (pdf) |
March 23, 2016 | National Resources Defense Council | Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) |
Citizen petition to repeal or amend the EPA’s aquifer exemption regulations to protect underground sources of drinking water. Read the petition: NRDC Aquifer Exemption March 23, 2016 (pdf) |
March 29, 2016 | North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality | Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) |
Petition for rulemaking to strengthen the Lead and Copper Rule under the SDWA. Read the petition: NC DEQ – SDWA Lead and Copper Rule March 29, 2016 (pdf) |
April 5, 2017 | Charles Maresca, Director of Interagency Affairs, SBA Office of Advocacy | Clean Water Act (CWA) |
The U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy, submits a regulatory petition to modify the final Steam Electric Power Plant Effluent Limitations Guidelines which imposed technology-based standards to control wastewater under the Clean Water Act. Read the petition: SBA Petition for ELG and Standards for the Steam Electric Power Generating Point Source Category (pdf) |
March 24, 2017 | Harry M. (Pete) Johnson III of Hunton & Williams (representing the Utility Water Act Group) | Clean Water Act (CWA) |
The Utility Water Act Group1 (UWAG) hereby petitions the U.S. EPA pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 553(e) for a rulemaking to reconsider the Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards for the Steam Electric Power Generating Point Source Category; Final Rule. UWAG also seeks an administrative stay of the Rule pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 705 because the Rule is currently in litigation. Read the petition. |
March 8, 2017 |
Food and Water Watch et al. |
Clean Water Act (CWA) |
Citizen petition to promulgate new CAFO rules to ensure that all discharging CAFOs obtain NPDES permits. Read the petition: Food and Water Watch et al 2017 (pdf) |
April 20, 2018 |
Ohio Environmental Council |
Clean Water Act (CWA), Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) |
Petitioners request that the EPA create a Water Quality Criteria for PFOA under the Clean Water Act at 0.014 micrograms per liter and PFASs at 0.07 micrograms per liter and a Primary Drinking Water Regulation for PFOA at 0.014 micrograms per liter and PFASs at 0.07 micrograms per liter under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Read the petition: Ohio Environmental Council 2018 (PDF) |
October 24, 2018 | Public Employees for Environmental Responsibilities (PEER) |
Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) |
Seeking amendments to 40 C.F.R. § 142.15 (4)(iii)(B), 40 C.F.R. 141.42(d), and 40 C.F.R. § 141.86(a)(2) in order to strengthen data collection and improve public health protections around the lead and copper rules. Read the petition: Public Employees for Environmental Responsibilities (PEER) (pdf) |
July 23, 2019 |
Center for Biological Diversity et al. |
Clean Water Act (CWA) |
Petition to promulgate a zero discharge effluent limitation guideline and standard for relevant plastics in industrial wastewater and stormwater, require individual stormwater permits for plastics facilities and ensure other general permits include a zero discharge limit for plastic, prohibit any detectable priority pollutants in wastewater or stormwater discharges for new plastics facilities unless and until EPA can justify higher limits using best available technology, promulgate effluent limitations guidelines and standards for wastewater and stormwater pollutants of concern not currently regulated for existing petro-plastics facilities under parts 419 and 414, update existing effluent limitations guidelines and standards under Parts 419 and 414 to reflect best available technology and progress towards the elimination of pollutant discharges as the Clean Water Act requires. Read the petition: Center for Biological Diversity et al. (pdf) |
December 18, 2019 |
Cape Fear River Watch et al. |
Clean Water Act (CWA) |
Petition to revise the Effluent Guidelines for the Meat and Poultry Products category. Read the petition: Cape Fear River Watch et al. (pdf) |
October 2022 |
Earth Justice et al. |
Clean Water Act (CWA) |
Petition to adopt a rebuttable presumption that Large CAFOs using wet manure management actually discharge water pollution and, thus, must apply for permits under the Clean Water Act. Read the petition: Earth Justice et al. (pdf) |