The Water Quality Standards Game 2014-EPA and the States Up the Ante

Recent initiatives by EPA suggest that Water Quality Standards will soon be driving litigation and regulatory proposals for change - are you ready?

Water quality standards drive every permit condition, every effluent limitation, every watershed management plan - in every state in the union. They affect - in many cases profoundly - municipalities, industrial operations, agriculture, transportation and just about every other sector of the economy. The forthcoming push by regulators to require attainment of water quality standards in every watershed nationwide - utilizing standards which may be technically impossible or inconsistent with human habitation - has the potential to cost billions of dollars while creating the risk of development moratoria and the shutdown of long term lawful businesses. Recent initiatives by EPA, combined with decisions from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals suggest that water quality standards will soon be driving litigation and regulatory proposals for change throughout the country. Yet, few people really understand water quality standards, who created them, how to modify them, and ways to ensure that the permits and total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) that implement them are fair and achievable. This live webinar - which is appropriate for attorneys and environmental professionals in all industries - will give participants such critical understanding - and allow them to get out ahead of some of the very real obstacles that recent court decisions and EPA regulatory initiatives are likely to create for their clients.

Learning Objectives

- You will be able to identify what water quality standards are, and why they are so important.

- You will be able to discuss EPA proposed water quality standards rulemaking.

- You will be able to explain water quality standards and storm water.

- You will be able to discuss watershed based trouble shooting.