EPA Regulatory Rollback
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a deregulation effort to cut red tape and lower compliance costs. Last month, the agency announced the rollback of 31 environmental regulations under the Clean Air Act that the Biden Administration passed to fight climate change and reduce air pollution.
Despite new drinking water regulations for PFAS as well as lead and copper contamination in 2024, EPA’s deregulatory efforts thus far have only narrowly touched Clean Water Act regulations. The exception is the “Waters of the U.S.” definition clarifying which bodies of water are subject to federal regulations. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has proposed tightening the definition – a direction that would be generally favorable to cities operating their own water and wastewater infrastructure by likely excluding those facilities from EPA authority.
Read more in this NLC article, "Inside EPA’s Regulatory Rollback: What Local Leaders Can Expect"
Changes in Federal Grants Terms
In an effort to bring federal grants into alignment with the January 20, 2025 Executive Order on Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing, agencies are enacting changes to the terms and conditions and policy statements in grant applications and awards. These changes include new clauses that require recipients to certify that they do not operate any programs that advance or promote DEI or “discriminatory equity ideology.”
Cities should closely read all grants that they apply to, even grants they have previously applied to or been awarded, to ensure that they are in compliance with any new grant requirements.