Number: 1987-28
WHEREAS, the federal Clean Water Act requires each state to develop water quality standards which specify the minimum acceptable water quality conditions for the Nation’s lakes and streams and to review and revise those standards if necessary every three years; and
WHEREAS, state water quality standards play an important role in controlling water pollution, including the development of controls on wastewater dischargers, the development of controls on non-point pollution sources, and the identification of lakes and streams needing site-specific toxic water pollution strategies; and
WHEREAS, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must review the state water quality standards at least every three years or whenever states propose new standards, and must disapprove any inadequate state standards within 90 days of their submittal; and
WHEREAS, in several instances, including the North Canadian River in Oklahoma and Lake Michigan, states have failed to adopt or revise water quality standards as necessary to protect and enhance water quality, yet EPA has either failed to disapprove those inadequate standards, or has unreasonably delayed and failed to promulgate federal standards in place of the inadequate state standards; and
WHEREAS, in those instances in which EPA has failed to assure that adequate water quality standards are applicable, water pollution may not be adequately controlled to protect human health and the environment;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in annual meeting assembled March 19-22, 1987, in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, calls on the EPA to review vigorously state water quality standards, disapprove them when necessary, and promptly promulgate federal standards based upon reliable data in their place.