Industry groups in Washington state are endorsing the EPA’s proposal to withdraw Obama-era water quality standards that they say set unattainable technological hurdles.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler signed a proposed rule July 23 that would rescind stricter federal water quality rules for the state and revert to older standards, which state officials now say are less protective of health.
The EPA in 2016, under the Obama administration, had created more stringent standards that revised Washington’s human health criteria for water, often called the “fish consumption rule” because it targets a water quality in which people can safely ...