On November 3, 2025, Environmental Protection Network submitted comments opposing EPA’s proposals to extend steam electric effluent limitation deadlines, arguing they lack legal authority, technological basis, and endanger public health and water quality.
EPN’s comments focus on the points summarized below:
- EPA is wasting government resources to promulgate the fourth rule steam electric power generating ELGs in 10 years, delaying yet again the requirement for steam electric power plants to treat their highly toxic wastewater which has been contaminating drinking water supplies and fisheries for decades.
- EPA cites emergency energy executive orders as foundational authority for the deadline extensions, but EPA has identified no emergency statutory authority in the Clean Water Act (CWA) that allows EPA to extend compliance deadlines for long overdue ELGs based conjectured uncertainties in the electric system.
- EPA’s cost assessment did not consider higher electricity prices associated with operational expenses (increased maintenance, lower plant capacity factors) associated with coal-fired power plants versus alternative supply or demand response alternatives.
- EPA presents no new data indicating plants cannot meet the 2024 limits until 2034. EPA does not explain why it is proposing to add alternative compliance dates for case specific situations when the CWA Clean Water Act already authorizes EPA and state permitting authorities to adjust national ELG requirements for unique site specific circumstances.
- EPA did not consult with Tribes, asserting, falsely, that the proposal will not have substantial direct effects on Tribal governments. Indian Tribes are disproportionately affected by this action due to the fishing and fish consumption rates of Tribal members, many of whom consume locally-caught fish at rates far higher than the general public, as EPA has long recognized.