Natural Resources Defense Council v. United States Environmental Protection Agency
Opinion
Opinion
Fletcher, J.
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) petitions for review of a final rule issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The rule provides that with regard to some, but not all, of the polluted waters listed pursuant to section 304(Z) of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1314 (Z), the states must identify the factories and other “point sources” responsible for discharging toxic pollutants into those waters and must develop strategies to control the pollution from those sources in an expedited manner. 40 C.F.R. §§ 123 .-46, 130.10. The NRDC argues that with regard to all of the listed waters, the states must identify “point source” toxic polluters and must develop strategies to control all the sources identified.
We grant the petition with respect to the claim that identification of toxic polluters must be made for all listed waters and remand for EPA to reconsider the question of individual control strategies.
I.
STATUTORY BACKGROUND
The Water Quality Act of 1987 (WQA), Pub.L. No. 100-4, 101 Stat. 7, amended the Clean Water Act (CWA), 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq., adding a number of new provisions, including section 304(Z), 33 U.S.C. § 1314 (Z), which is the focus of…