Environmental Protection Agency water quality rules are contradictory and have the effect of allowing municipal dischargers in Montana an “escape clause” from compliance with state water-quality standards, ruled a U.S. federal court judge in Great Falls, Mont., on March 25.
In a lawsuit by environmental groups, Judge Brian Morris said EPA and the Montana Dept. of Environmental Quality should set a timeline for ultimate attainment of the state water-quality standard related to nutrient discharge rather than simply improving the water to a relaxed level set in a variance.