NAHB President Meets With EPA Administrator on Regulatory Issues - 3/15/2004 - Home Exterior Environment Landscaping

NAHB President Meets With EPA Administrator to Seek Balance on Regulatory Issues

At the top of the agenda were effluent limitation guidelines to limit the amount of pollutants in storm water discharges from construction sites. The EPA is under court order to announce its final decisions on this issue by the end of this month, and NAHB has been working with the agency to ensure that the regulations are not unnecessarily burdensome to residential development.

Rayburn urged the Administration to make no changes to its existing storm water regulations.

Citing the uncertainty that landowners face in trying to determine what lands may or may not be subject to wetlands regulations, Rayburn expressed extreme disappointment over the EPA's decision in December not to revise regulations to clarify this issue.

On the issue of brownfields, Rayburn received assurances from the administrator that he will look into the the agency’s land revitalization programs and how they can provide adequate liability protection for developers who put brownfield properties back into productive use.

Leavitt indicated to Rayburn that he is concerned about the issue of gathering good data and information as the basis for all of his agency’s rulemaking, and Rayburn agreed that good science must be the cornerstone for all regulatory actions and suggested that the EPA seek to identify areas where collaborative efforts might be productive.

NAHB will also be meeting with the EPA’s Office of Water staff to explore solutions to the storm water general permit issue after Rayburn expressed concern over a Ninth Circuit Court decision and how it might affect the availability of this streamlined permit process. Likewise, NAHB will continue to pursue reforms of EPA storm water enforcement initiatives.

Photo by Herman Farrer