News Releases - 2002

New Rules Sought By IEPA To Protect Water Resources Approved

Springfield, Ill. -- New environmental regulations to further protect outstanding water resources in Illinois cleared a final hurdle today when the Illinois Legislature's Joint Committee on Administrative Rules approved proposed rules sent to the committee in December by the Illinois Pollution Control Board.

The proposed rules, which now return to the Board for final adoption, are the outgrowth of rule-making first filed with the Pollution Control Board by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency more than two years ago.

"This rule-making will assist our overall goal of protecting and improving Illinois' water resources by providing new standards to meet those goals," said Illinois EPA Director Renee Cipriano.

Often referred to as "anti-degradation" regulations, the rules would require municipalities and developers to look, during both the planning and review stages of development, at alternatives to lessen the impact of discharges into the state's waterways.

Such alternatives could include generating less waste from treatment processes, treating waste to a higher level before discharge, or discharging it somewhere other than into streams. Historically, waste from private and municipal sewage plants as well as industrial effluent has been discharged into nearby streams that diluted the materials while carrying it away.

To improve water quality in the nation's rivers and streams, the federal Clean Water Act required various levels of treatment of waste before discharge. For most of the 30 years since the Clean Water Act was passed, efforts in Illinois and elsewhere have focused on this sort of "point source" pollution control.

This has including identifying streams with impaired water quality, prioritizing them by potential uses and degrees of impairment, and developing mechanisms for limiting contamination and improving the streams' quality.

"Now, with adequate mechanisms in place to meet minimum standards," Director Cipriano said, "we will be looking to see if we can reduce discharges even more. The challenge will be to balance environmental improvement against economic benefits."

She cited as an example of innovative alternatives, plans in a McHenry county community to begin, this summer, to land apply treated effluent to a local golf course.

The Clean Water Act also requires states to designate "Outstanding Resource Waters" for additional protection of their pristine conditions. That list will next have to be developed and protective measures defined.