Chesapeake Bay Clean Water Blueprint Faces its Next Round of Appeals
The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) has taken their case against the EPA’s Clean Water Blueprint to the Supreme Court. The AFBF is appealing the most recent decision by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which, this July, upheld the EPA’s right to enforce the Clean Water Blueprint for the Chesapeake Bay. (See the full opinion from that case here). This most recent appeal, should the Supreme Court choose to take this case, will be the third time the AFBF has challenged the Clean Water Blueprint in court. AFBF originally sued the EPA in January 2011, following the 2010 announcement of the Blueprint. That challenge was dismissed in 2013.
The EPA Clean Water Blueprint sets Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs), which Bay states must enforce to meet Bay cleanup goals by 2025. While AFBF claims that these TMDL requirements are an overstep of federal authority, lower courts have upheld the EPA’s ability to enforce these pollution standards through the Clean Water Act.
The AFBF submitted their appeal to the Supreme Court this past Friday.
Chesapeake Bay environment and water quality blog 