While stakeholders in Virginia may strongly disagree with the form and substance of the Environmental Protection Agency’s ( EPA) efforts to mandate a cleaner Chesapeake Bay, groups from other states have decided to challenge the Environmental Protection Agency and the Total Maximum Daily Load standards set in place by the agency last year as part of their renewed focus on a healthier Chesapeake Bay. You can find more on the specifics of the limits at our prior blog posts.

Up in Pennsylvania, the American and Pennsylvania Farm Bureaus are taking the position that the limits will idle thousands of acres of farmland, drive up produce market costs and eliminate agricultural jobs. They have sued the EPA alleging that the agency is deliberately circumventing Congress’s decision to leave the local controls over the Bay watershed to the states through the Clean Water Act.

The National Association of Homebuilders took the same tack in a suit it filed, also in Pennsylvania. They claim that the limits will make residential and commercial building permits more difficult to obtain, constrain land use and further hobble the construction industry. Action in both cases is pending.