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ARTICLE · 17 NOVEMBER 2017

Opposing NPDES Delegation To Massachusetts Is So 20th Century

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On Tuesday, the Boston Globe joined most local environmental organizations in opposing delegation of the NPDES program to Massachusetts. How wrong is this? Let me count the ways.

United StatesEnvironment
Seth Jaffe
Seth Jaffe
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On Tuesday, the Boston Globe joined most local environmental organizations in opposing delegation of the NPDES program to Massachusetts. How wrong is this? Let me count the ways.

  1. Donald Trump
  2. Even recognizing, as the Globe points out, that presidential administrations are only four years, does anyone seriously expect the federal EPA budget to be anything other than massively underfunded for the foreseeable future?
  3. The Globe says that the current arrangement, while "unusual," has "worked." Methinks that the Globe editorial staff has been taking too much advantage of marijuana legalization in Massachusetts. Did they bother to ask – or did any of the environmental organizations bother to tell them – how long it currently takes EPA to renew NPDES permits in Massachusetts? For permits of any complexity, delays of more than ten years are not uncommon. The Globe's definition of a program that works is different than mine.

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