Trump administration tramples Clean Water Act, Washington state sues
The Trump administration has trampled the Clean Water Act by "revising" and weakening state water quality standards applying to such dangerous pollutants as arsenic, asbestos, mercury and lead, the state of Washington argues in a new legal challenge.
The standards apply specifically to Washington and are used to determine how clean Washington's waters must be to protect human health. They were approved by the Environmental Protection Agency during the Obama administration.
"It's not only disruptive to Washington's environmental efforts over the past two years, it's a clear violation of the Clean Water Act," said Attorney General Bob Ferguson in a news release.
The EPA under Trump has cited its "inherent authority" to change rules. The state is arguing that the Clean Water Act gives EPA authority only to strengthen water quality standards, not to weaken or eviscerate.
"EPA does not have inherent authority to ignore the process Congress established under the Clean Water Act to revise a state's existing water quality standards," the state said in a U.S. District Court filing.
The state in 2016 proposed updates to its water quality standards. The Obama EPA made revisions, and Washington began to implement the standards.
An industry group objected and asked the EPA to "review" the Washington rules. The appeal came from a who's who list of polluters and business lobbies: The Northwest Pulp & Paper Assn., the American Forest & Paper Assn.; the Association of Washington Business and the Washington Farm Bureau.
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