Pronsolino

ORDER ON CROSS-MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT REGARDING AUTHORITY OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY UNDER THE CLEAN WATER ACT TO LIST SUBSTANDARD RIVERS AND WATERS AND TO ISSUE TMDLS FOR THEM

INTRODUCTION

In this case of first impression, the issue is whether Section 303(d) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, later renamed the Clean Water Act, authorized the Environmental Protection Agency to determine “total maximum daily loads” for rivers and waters polluted only by logging and agricultural runoff and/or other nonpoint sources rather than by any municipal sewer and/or industrial point sources. 33 U.S.C. § 1313 (d). The issue gathers importance from the fact that “nonpoint source pollution has become the dominant water quality problem in the United States, dwarfing all other sources of volume ....” According to EPA, 54% of California’s substandard rivers and waters are impaired by nonpoint sources only and another 45% are impaired by a combination of both point and nonpoint sources (EPA Tab 23).

STATEMENT

Plaintiffs Guido and Betty Pronsolino own forested land along the Garcia River in the North Coast of California. When they obtained a permit to…