Court Readies Novel Ruling On Using Narrative Criteria For NPDES Permits

A federal appeals court is preparing to rule on litigation over the agency's novel effort to translate narrative water quality criteria for nutrient pollution into numeric permit limits for a Massachusetts wastewater treatment plant, denying a stay requested by the plant that EPA had argued would set a precedent for "endless delay" in permit challenges. In a June 29 order in Upper Blackstone Water Pollution Abatement District (UBWPAD) v. EPA, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit rejected...