Court Orders EPA to Revisit Wastewater Rule

On April 12, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider parts of a 2015 rule governing wastewater from power plants. The case was brought by representatives of several environmental groups who argued that the 2015 rule did not set any new treatment standards for coal plant wastewater stored in unlined pits or for any pollutants that leach out. The EPA now must either craft new rules or legally justify keeping the 1982 regulations in place.