Farm Bureau Effort to Thwart Bay Cleanup Progress Rejected by Third Circuit
Recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed the 2013 decision of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania that EPA did not exceed its Clean Water Act (CWA) authority in issuing the total maximum daily load (TMDL), or pollution diet, for the Chesapeake Bay. The ruling affirmed the legality of the nation’s most ambitious TMDL and, more broadly, it also rejected the plaintiffs’ exceedingly narrow view of TMDLs.
As presented in a recent case brief, CPR Member Scholars Emily Hammond, Dave Owen, and Rena Steinzor and I argue that this decision is a good example of how judicial deference can protect important agency efforts to protect the environment. According to brief co-author Rena Steinzor, “The Third Circuit provided resounding support for ongoing efforts to restore the Chesapeake and for EPA’s authority to work with states to adopt broad and protective TMDLs for impaired waters across the country.” Nonpoint sources of pollution – particularly from agriculture – are the primary cause of impairment in the Chesapeake Bay and in many water bodies across the country. And TMDLs can be the perfect tool to address the problem – if EPA and the states embody …
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