Posted December 16, 2013
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging the use of water quality trading to clean up the Chesapeake Bay on Friday, according to an article by the Baltimore Sun available here.
Judge Rudolph Contreras, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, granted a motion by defendant, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to dismiss the lawsuit brought by two environmental groups. The plaintiffs, Food & Water Watch and Friends of the Earth filed the lawsuit in October of 2012, arguing that “a market-based cleanup program that is part of the agency’s ‘pollution diet’ for the bay violates the federal Clean Water Act.” The complaint is available here.
Judge Contreras ruled that the lawsuit was premature since the “EPA has not approved any pollution trades under the programs drawn up by bay states, including Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia.” The judge also ruled that the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge the trading programs.
A recent post from this blog on the USDA and EPA partnership supporting water quality trading is available here. For more information on the Clean Water Act, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
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