National News

Maine, EPA, Tribes Spar over Water Quality Rules. “The state of Maine is locked in a legal battle with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a pair of American Indian tribes about the way clean water standards apply in and around tribal lands. Maine is arguing in the lawsuit that the EPA is unfairly imposing heightened water quality standards in the tribal areas. The state argues an EPA decision about the subject should be vacated because it exceeds the agency's authority and is not based on scientific evidence. The lawsuit has attracted the attention of Maine's forest products and paper industries, because clean water standards play a role in industries' ability to discharge material into rivers.” [AP, 7/8/18 (=)]

Op-Ed | Hunters and Anglers Overwhelmingly Support Clean Water Conservation, Poll Finds. By John Hayes, “As Congress continues to debate the efficacy of Clean Water Act protections for headwaters and wetlands, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership has released a new nationwide bipartisan poll that shows that sportsmen and women on both sides of the aisle overwhelming support clean water. The commissioned poll showed that 92 percent of hunters and anglers would strengthen or maintain current federal safeguards for clean water that supports fish and wildlife habitat. ‘The responses to our poll left little room for doubt that America’s sportsmen and women want to see an end to the unnecessary regulatory confusion over what streams and wetlands deserve Clean Water Act protections,’ says Whit Fosburgh, president and CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, in a statement. ‘As we’ve been saying ... any replacement rule should provide certainty for landowners and the $887-billion outdoor recreation economy that depends on access to clean water and abundant fish and wildlife.’” [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 7/6/18 (+)]

Ocean Agency Suggests Opening Marine Monuments to Commercial Fishing. “An internal document suggests the nation’s leading ocean science agency is planning to gut protections for America’s marine national monuments, opening millions of acres of federal water to commercial fishing as early as September. Rear Adm. Timothy Gallaudet, acting administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, detailed the proposed change in a presentation at the Department of Commerce’s ‘Vision Setting Summit’ last month. The move, which is tied to the Trump administration’s monthslong review of national monuments, seeks to boost domestic seafood production.” [Huffington Post, 7/5/18 (=)]