EPA General Counsel Issues Interpretive Statement Regarding NPDES Program and Release of Pollutants from a Point Source to Groundwater

Matthew Z. Leopold, General Counsel of the Environmental Protection Agency, issued an interpretive statement regarding the applicability of the NPDES permitting program under the Clean Water Act for the release of pollutants from a point source to groundwater in which the pollutants subsequently migrate or are conveyed by groundwater to jurisdictional surface waters. As stated in the interpretive letter, the “EPA concludes that the Act is best read as excluding all releases of pollutants from a point source to groundwater from NPDES program coverage and liability under Section 301 of the CWA, regardless of a hydrologic connection between the groundwater and a jurisdictional surface water.”This is the first instance, as noted in the letter. in which the EPA has issued any guidance on the subject matter. A copy of the letter may be obtained via this URL:https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2019-04/documents/interpretive_statement_application_of_cwa_npdes_memo_-_signed.pdf