WESTERN WATER NEWS

October 2007

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Center for Biological Diversity Petitions California and Eight Coastal States to Regulate Carbon Dioxide Pollution under the Clean Water Act

In February of 2007 the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) petitioned California’s coastal Regional Water Quality Control Boards to declare ocean waters in California impaired under the Clean Water Act (CWA) due to ocean acidification, the changing of seawater chemistry through absorption of human-produced carbon dioxide. Ocean acidi-fication, CBD argues, is the “other carbon dioxide problem” (in addition to global warming) caused by excessive carbon dioxide pollution. On August 15, 2007, CBD officially requested that seven additional coastal states—Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, Florida, New York, and New Jersey—also declare ocean waters in their respective jurisdictions impaired under the CWA due to ocean acidification. If ocean waters are listed as impaired due to ocean acidification, the CWA would require California and the other coastal states CBD petitioned to limit gaseous carbon dioxide pollution entering the ocean waters in the jurisdiction of their respective states.