U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Distributed Energy Program

EPA Laws and Regulations

The following laws and regulations come under the purview of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). See the EPA Web site for the full text of laws referred to in this section.

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

National Environmental Policy Act of 1969; 42 U.S.C. 4321-4347

NEPA is the basic national charter for protection of the environment. It establishes policy, sets goals, and provides means for carrying out the policy.

The National Environmental Policy Act was passed in 1970 to ensure that significant environmental impacts affecting federal lands or resources are taken into consideration before irretrievable commitments are made. The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) oversees NEPA.

The first step in the NEPA process is to screen the proposed action to determine the appropriate response for ensuring NEPA compliance. The applicant should consult with the CEQ as early as possible in the planning process to obtain guidance with respect to the appropriate scope of environmental information that will be needed to identify environmental factors and permitting requirements. Proposed actions fall into one of five categories:

Actions exempt from NEPA.
Categorical exclusions.
Actions covered by an existing NEPA environmental document.
Actions that require preparation of an Environmental Assessment (EA) to determine if an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is needed.
Actions that require preparation of an EIS.

An EA is intended to be a concise public document that provides sufficient evidence and analysis for determining whether to order an EIS or a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). EAs and FONSIs may be filed jointly. If the EA finds that a significant impact is likely, then a draft and final EIS must be prepared. Public comment periods must be included for EAs as well as for the draft and the final EIS. An EIS must be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and a notice must be published in the Federal Register.

The Clean Air Act (CAA)

The Clean Air Act; 42 U.S.C. s/s 7401 et seq. (1970)

The Plain English Guide to the Clean Air Act (EPA)
EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards — Select the Permits heading for detailed information on permits.
Air permits: basic facts
New Source Review
EPA's Office of Air and Radiation regulations
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (Massachusetts description)
EPA's Green Book — Shows nonattainment areas for criteria pollutants.
List of state and territorial air pollution program administrators
EPA's Global Warming site — Includes a section on clean energy.
EPA's Green Communities site — Includes some case studies highlighting environmental laws and energy production.

Clean Water Act (CWA)

National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits, administered by EPA under section 402 of the Clean Water Act (CWA), are required for all point-source discharges of pollutants into navigable waterways and their tributaries.

Two sets of standards determine acceptable levels of discharge:

Water quality-based standards — are designed to protect receiving bodies of water from failing to meet acceptable water quality standards.
Technology-based standards — ensure that, regardless of the quality of the receiving water body, a type of discharge meets a minimum level of control. Certain types of industrial discharges, such as those into sanitary sewer systems, may not require NPDES permits, but will be required to meet certain local standards, and may be subject to the Industrial Pretreatment Program. The Industrial Pretreatment Program prevents the discharge of pollutants to a Publicly Owned Treatment Work (POTW) which will interfere with the operation of the POTW or its use and disposal of municipal biosolids. In addition, the Pretreatment Program prevents the introduction of pollutants to POTWs that may pass into rivers, lakes, and streams, causing increased toxicity or other impacts. Implementation of the Pretreatment Program is outlined in 40 CFR 403.

Discharges potentially regulated by NPDES fall into three categories:

Conventional pollutants, such as sanitary waste or gray water.
Toxic pollutants, which are grouped into organics (including pesticides, solvents, PCBs, and dioxins) and metals (including lead, silver, mercury, copper, chromium, zinc, nickel, and cadmium).
Unconventional pollutants, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, or any other substance that is not conventional or toxic.

Regular monitoring and reporting are required under both the NPDES permit and the Pretreatment Program. Failure to meet the conditions of either may result in a range of enforcement actions. EPA, authorized states, or citizens may bring suits for violations of the CWA under section 505 of the CWA. In addition to reviewing developers' data submittals, EPA may conduct on-site inspections as part of monitoring compliance status.