Lawyers Doubt EPA Groundwater Policy Will Sway Courts' CWA Decisions

摘要

Lawyers working on the myriad cases over whether Clean Water Act (CWA) limits apply to pollution that travels through groundwater to surface waters doubt that EPA's effort to craft a definitive policy on the issue will affect the cases, because judges have offered mixed views on whether they need to defer to the agency's position.During a May 23 panel discussion hosted by the District of Columbia Bar Association, attorneys for environmental and industry groups clashed over whether the CWA should be read to cover groundwater-borne pollutants. However, they generally agreed that judges will get the final word and could decide based on their own interpretations of the water law without deference to EPA, which would render any federal policy meaningless.