A high-profile emergency spending package that passed the House last night contains a rider that would block the U.S. EPA from implementing major new rules meant to clean up the nation’s waterways. Under the rules, which the agency intends to finalize this summer, states would be required to determine the total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) of pollution that bodies of water can handle and make plans to decrease pollution accordingly, a shift from the current system under which individual polluting sources such as factories are regulated closely but the overall health of a body of water is sometimes overlooked. The EPA estimates that 40 percent of all lakes, rivers, and streams in the nation fail to meet water-quality standards. Some enviros complain that the new regulations would give states 15 years to come into compliance, while some lawmakers, including a few farm-state Democrats, complain that the regulations would impose big costs on farmers and businesses.
