EPA Sued for Illegally Weakening Washington State Water Rules

The Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to weaken Washington state’s water standards exceeds the agency’s authority under the Clean Water Act and is otherwise arbitrary and capricious, according to a lawsuit filed in a Washington federal court.

Under the Clean Water Act, states are required to develop standards to protect designated uses of water and include criteria to ensure those protections are met. If the state fails to do so, then the EPA must adopt standards for the state.

The Washington State Department of Ecology submitted new human health criteria to the agency in 2016, but the agency disapproved and implemented ...