EPA Appeals Ruling Requiring Response On Mississippi Nutrient Limits

摘要

EPA is appealing a court ruling that ordered it to craft a formal response to environmentalists' petition seeking strict new nutrient limits for states in the Mississippi River Basin - even though the ruling left open a path for the agency to deny the petition by citing the costs to craft and litigate such standards, the same reasons the agency had cited in its informal denial of the petition. One source tracking the issue says the appeal suggests the agency's resources are limited and officials want to avoid imposing federal requirements on states. "They're stretched on resources, and I don't think they want to have any more political problems. When they're perceived as setting the agenda for states, that becomes a political problem, even when they were forced into it by litigation."