Washington AG Filed Lawsuit against EPA Over Weakening of State Water Quality Standards

JUNE 6, 2019

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the agency’s May 2019 decision to unilaterally weaken Washington’s water quality standards over the objection of AG Ferguson and Washington Department of Ecology Director Maia Bellon. In the complaint, AG Ferguson noted that the EPA’s changes to the state’s water quality standards violate the Clean Water Act, which allows the EPA to revise state water quality standards only if the agency determines that current standards are not stringent enough to protect human health, or if the standards submitted by a state do not meet the applicable requirements of the statute. AG Ferguson asked the court for a declaration invalidating and vacating the EPA’s decision, and for an injunction preventing the agency from making any future attempts to unlawfully revise Washington’s water quality standards.

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