Judge find Clean Water Act does not obligate EPA to approve state's specifications for nonpoint sources

摘要

U.S. Judge Edward G. Smith of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania held on March 17 that the federal Clean Water Act does not obligate the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to review or otherwise approve or disapprove specifications for nonpoint source compliance with water quality standards in Pennsylvania. (See issue of July 30, 2014 Pages 4 and 14.) The EPA contended the court lacks jurisdiction to hear Pine Creek Valley Watershed Association's claim that Pennsylvania Act 41, enacted in July 2013 to amend the commonwealth's Sewage Facilities Act, constitutes an unlawful revision to existing EPA-approved Pennsylvania regulations protecting water quality.