RECENT FEDERAL DECISIONS

November 2001

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Second Circuit Allows Total Maximum Daily Loads to Be Established on Annual, Not Daily, Basis
Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. Muszynski

Resolving a challenge by a public interest environmental group to the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) decision to approve total maximum daily loads (Total Maximum Daily Loads) for phosphorus in eight New York reservoirs, the Court of Appeals has held that the Clean Water Act does not prohibit a state and the federal government from adopting annual standards for Total Maximum Daily Loads even though the language of the Clean Water Act (CWA) refers to total maximum "daily" loads. In addition, the court allowed the establishment of Total Maximum Daily Loads based on aesthetic criteria even though the reservoirs at issue provide drinking water.