ACOEL : American College of Environmental Lawyers : ACOEL : Environmental Law, Ethics, Administration of Justice

Has the EPA gone far enough to overcome the successful Waterkeeper Alliance challenge to its CAFO Rule? 

In 2005, the 2^nd Circuit Court of Appeals held EPA’s 2003 CAFO Rule exceeded its authority. The challenged rule required certain concentrated animal feeding operators to apply for an NPDES water permit or prove none was needed. The court held that having only a potential to discharge was not enough to require a permit. In 2008, the EPA revised its CAFO Rule, announced on November 20, 2008 at 73 Fed. Reg. 70,418 as “Revised National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit Regulation and Effluent Limitations Guidelines for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations in Response to the Waterkeeper Decision”-did it do enough to survive a challenge?

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