Environmentalists Urge EPA To Develop Enforceable Nutrient Criteria

摘要

Environmentalists are pressing EPA to establish enforceable numeric nutrient water criteria, saying a proposed methodology to help states net numeric nutrient criteria for lakes and reservoirs continues a failed approach of merely encouraging states to voluntarily adopt such criteria. "We are concerned by the non-regulatory nature of the Draft Criteria. For more than twenty years, EPA has encouraged states to voluntarily adopt numeric criteria to no avail," the environmental group Riverkeeper says in July 21 comments on an EPA draft technical document the agency took comment on through Aug. 20. "In order to reach the goal of a uniform system of numeric nutrient criteria, EPA must create a regulatory scheme that supports adoption. We urge EPA to reevaluate the proposed Draft Criteria and include additional guidelines for enforcement in order to ensure consistent criteria are applied across the United States," Riverkeeper adds.