This bill would require the Environmental Protection Agency to issue water quality criteria through formal rulemaking procedures rather than through guidance documents or other less formal means. Water quality criteria are the scientifically-based standards that states use to set pollution limits in rivers, lakes, and other waterways to protect human health and aquatic life. By mandating formal rulemaking, the legislation would require the EPA to follow notice-and-comment procedures that give the public and stakeholders opportunities to review and provide input on proposed criteria before they take effect. The bill also makes water quality criteria decisions subject to judicial review, allowing them to be challenged in court. The legislation affects the EPA and any state or entity that relies on federal water quality criteria to develop their own water pollution control programs, though no specific funding or implementation timeline is provided in the text.
Take Action
Your position
Add a comment
to comment on this bill.
Annotate the text
Highlight any passage on the Summary or Full Text tab to attach a note. Annotations appear on the Annotations tab.