EPA toughens construction site water pollution rules

If the hoped-for economic recovery in coming years brings a big construction boom, new EPA rules could help ensure there’s not a corresponding increase in water pollution.
 
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson signed final regulations today that toughen Clean Water Act requirements for construction and development sites. The rules are aimed at preventing sediment from washing away from construction sites into water bodies.

“Stormwater discharges during construction activities containing sediment and turbidity can cause an array of physical, chemical and biological impacts on receiving waters,” the rules note.

A major piece of the toughened rules: they create a technology-based “floor,” or minimum requirements, on a national basis. It also establishes a numeric limit on turbidity, or water clarity, for sites that disturb 10 acres or more.
 
The agency estimates that the rules will cut the amount of sediment discharged from construction sites by about 4 billion pounds per year. The rules, once fully phased in after several years, will carry an annual estimated cost of $953 million, according to EPA.
 
Link to the rule -- the second document on this page, called the “pre publication” version: