EPA Seeks To Dismiss Suit Seeking Nutrient Limits For Mississippi Basin

摘要

EPA is asking a federal court to dismiss environmentalists' suit to require strict nutrient limits for waters in the Mississippi basin, saying it has discretion under the Clean Water Act (CWA) to decide whether to craft new water quality criteria with no basis for a court to review its decision under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). "Review under the APA is ... unavailable where 'agency action is committed to agency discretion by law;' that is, when a statute is 'drawn in such broad terms that in a given case there is no law to apply.' There is, in turn, 'no law to apply' where a statute provides 'no meaningful standard against which to judge the agency's exercise of discretion.'