Clean Water Current

(November 12, 2020) – Earlier this week, NACWA joined with several state associations representing clean water utilities throughout the country in filing an amicus brief to the US District Court for the Western District of Missouri supporting the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) approval of the State of Missouri’s nutrient criteria for lakes.

Importantly, Missouri’s nutrient standards, like those being developed by other states, do not employ a single numeric criterion, but instead utilize screening thresholds to determine impacts to water quality and impairment. Preserving EPA’s ability to approve such flexible approaches to nutrient criteria in lieu of stringent numeric limits is critical for NACWA’s members nationwide.

NACWA’s brief notes the key role states play in adopting water quality standards under the Clean Water Act, and outlines how Missouri’s nutrient criteria were based on a robust scientific record and are, when considered with other applicable standards, fully protective of all of the designated uses of the State’s lakes.

Teaming up with NACWA on the brief were the Association of Missouri Clean Water Agencies, Association of Ohio Metropolitan Wastewater Agencies, California Association of Sanitation Agencies, North Carolina Water Quality Association, South Carolina Water Quality Association, Virginia Association of Municipal Wastewater Agencies, and the West Virginia Municipal Water Quality Association.

Please contact NACWA’s Chief Legal Counsel, Amanda Aspatore, with any questions concerning the litigation.