EPA Proposes Maine CWA Standards With High Fish Consumption Level

摘要

EPA is proposing long-awaited water quality standards (WQS) for Maine that include significantly more stringent protections for tribes and other populations that rely on subsistence fishing, reflecting an ongoing debate over what level of fish consumption WQS should protect, despite a pending suit where the state claims EPA has "usurped" its authority. The agency's proposed Clean Water Act (CWA) WQS, posted online April 11 but not yet published in the Federal Register, set a host of criteria for Maine waters, including standards for protecting human health that assume fish consumption almost an order of magnitude higher than the state-crafted WQS that EPA is replacing.