The Nickel Report: EPA's Effluent Guidelines Program Plan: Roadmap To Technology-Based Water Regulation

In May, EPA issued its 2016 Final Effluent Guidelines (ELG) Program Plan, which is EPA's first screening step to selection of industries for possible revision or development of technology-based limits on wastewater discharges (i.e., effluent limitations guidelines and standards (ELGs)). 83 Fed. Reg. 19281 (May 2, 2018). EPA releases a new ELG plan every two years, and the process bears watching because it cuts across all industry types (there are 59 industries with final ELGs in place) and provides some perspective on EPA's assessment of pollutants of concern and emerging technologies to address those pollutants.

Traditionally, EPA uses its ELG plans to indicate which individual industries will be evaluated for possible revision of existing ELGs or development of new ELGs. But the final 2016 Plan takes an unusual approach by focusing on several holistic studies, rather than more detailed study of selected industries. The Plan announces EPA's intention to conduct two