The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declared Montana’s new water quality standard invalid under the Clean Water Act. The agency’s Region 8 office sent its letter of rejection to the state’s Department of Environmental Quality in mid-May.
A law passed in April 2021 eliminated the state’s numeric standards for nutrient pollution and instead required the DEQ to regulate discharges of phosphorus or nitrogen based on a narrative standard. Prohibited discharges would: create conditions toxic to human, animal, plant and aquatic life; create conditions that produce undesirable aquatic life; or cause measurable changes in aquatic life.News reports noted that Montanans have always prided
