Task: songer_adminrev

What follows is an opinion from a United States Court of Appeals. Your task is to identify the federal agency (if any) whose decision was reviewed by the court of appeals. If there was no prior agency action, choose "not applicable".

TONE, Circuit Judge.
This is a review of effluent limitations promulgated by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, 33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq., 86 Stat. 816 et seq. (hereinafter “the Act”). Petitioner is the American Meat Institute (“AMI”), whose members operate slaughterhouses and meat-packing plants throughout the country. The regulations under review limit the quantities of various pollutants which these plants can discharge into waterways. Our jurisdiction is invoked under § 509(b) of the Act.
The Statute
The objective of the Act “is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters.” Section 101(a). The Act sets as national goals the elimination by 1985 of all “discharge[s] of pollutants into the navigable waters,” and the achievement by 1983, “wherever attainable” of a water quality adequate to maintain aquatic life and allow recreational use. Id.
As intermediate steps to the 1985 goal, § 301(b) of the Act requires the achievement
(1) by July 1, 1977 of “effluent limitations for point sources which shall require the application of the best practicable control technology currently available as defined by the Administrator pursuant to section 304(b) of this Act”; and
(2) by July 1, 1983 of “effluent limitations for categories and classes of point sources... which (i) shall require application of the best available technology economically achievable for such category or class, which will result in reasonable further progress toward the national goal of eliminating the discharge of all pollutants, as determined in accordance with regulations issued by the Administrator pursuant to section 304(b)(2) of this Act
For convenience, we shall refer to the technology which must be used by 1977 as the 1977 technology, and to that which must be used by 1983 as the 1983 technology.
The 1977 and 1983 technologies are to be defined by the Administrator under § 304. Subsection (b) of that section provides that “[f]or the purpose of adopting or revising effluent limitations under this Act,” the Administrator is to publish “regulations, providing guidelines for effluent limitations.” These guidelines are to be promulgated within one year after enactment of the Act, “after consultation with appropriate Federal and State agencies and other interested persons,” and they are to be revised at least annually, if appropriate. The guidelines are to identify, in terms of specific pollutants, “the degree of effluent reduction attainable through the application of” the 1977 and 1983 technologies. Thus, subdivision (1) of § 304(b), referring to the 1977 criterion, requires identification of “the degree of effluent reduction attainable through the application of the best practicable control technology currently available for classes and categories of point sources.” Subdivision (2), referring to the 1983 criterion, requires identification of “the degree of effluent reduction attainable through the application of the best control measures and practices achievable including treatment techniques, process and procedure innovations, operating methods, and other alternatives for classes and categories of point sources....”
In connection with both the 1977 and 1983 criteria, the guidelines are to specify “factors to be taken into account” in determining the applicable technology. These factors are to include, for the 1977 technology, “consideration of the total cost of application of technology in relation to the effluent reduction benefits to be achieved from such application,” and, for the 1983 technology, “the cost of achieving such effluent reduction.” For both the 1977 and 1983 technologies the factors are to include “the age of equipment and facilities involved, the process employed, the engineering aspects of the application of various types of control techniques [and], process changes,” as well as “non-water quality environmental impact (including energy requirements), and such other factors as the Administrator deems appropriate... § 304(b)(1)(B) and (2)(B). Finally, the guidelines are to “identify control measures and practices available to eliminate the discharge of pollutants from categories and classes of point sources, taking into account the cost of achieving such elimination of the discharge of pollutants.” § 304(b)(3).
To complement §§ 301 and 304, which govern existing sources, § 306 requires the Administrator to promulgate “regulations establishing Federal standards of performance for new sources” within certain categories of sources. These regulations are to cover only plants on which construction began after publication of proposed new-source regulations for that category.
Section 402 adds to the regulatory scheme a permit system for discharges which replaces the permit system formerly administered by the Army Corps of Engineers under the Act of 1899, 30 Stat. 1152, 33 U.S.C. § 407. Permits may be granted by the Administrator provided the discharger complies with all the requirements of the Act, including those of §§ 301, 302, and 306. The Administrator may delegate his permit-granting authority to the states, if they provide sufficient assurances that they will enforce these requirements.
Background of the Regulations
The regulations before us cover the “Red Meat Processing Segment of the Meat Products Point Source Category.” The common characteristic of the plants in this segment of the meat industry is that they all slaughter animals (but not poultry) and produce fresh meat, which may be sold as whole, half, or quarter carcasses, or as smaller meat cuts. Plants that produce only fresh meat are called slaughterhouses; those that also produce cured, smoked, canned, or other prepared meat products are called packinghouses. Both types of plants usually perform some by-product processing, such as rendering (separation of fats and water from tissue), blood processing, and hide processing.
EPA employed North Star Research Institute to study the industrial processes used by slaughterhouses and packinghouses, the wastes generated, and the treatment technologies in use or available to these plants, and to recommend, inter alia, effluent limitations under § 301(b). North Star proceeded to study relevant literature and information on the meat industry it had previously gathered for EPA. In conjunction with AMI, it prepared questionnaires which were distributed to slaughterhouses and packinghouses. From the responses to the questionnaires and information acquired from various other sources, North Star classified the plants into four subcategories and attempted to identify those in each subcategory having the most effluent control. To verify the questionnaire responses, selected plants from these groups were inspected and monitored to a very limited extent. In June 1973, North Star submitted to EPA a report in which the information North Star had gathered was collected and summarized, and analyses and recommendations were presented.
After reviewing the North Star report, distributing copies to industry representatives, and receiving their comments, EPA revised the report and published the revision as a Draft Development Document in October 1973. The standards recommended in this document were then incorporated into proposed regulations, which the agency published the same month. Proposed EPA Reg. 40 C.F.R., part 432, 38 Fed.Reg. 29858 (Oct. 29, 1973).
After publication of the proposed regulations, EPA received further comments. On February 28, 1974, it promulgated the final regulations which are the subject of this review proceeding. 40 C.F.R., part 432, 39 Fed.Reg. 7894. In addition, a revised version of the October 1973 Draft Development Document was published under date of February 1974 as the Final Development Document (hereinafter sometimes cited as FDD).
The Regulations
The regulations classify slaughterhouses and packinghouses into the following four subcategories:
(1) simple slaughterhouses, which slaughter animals and perform a limited number, usually no more than two, by-product processing operations (subpart A, §§ 432.10 — 432.16);
(2) complex slaughterhouses, which slaughter animals and perform several, usually three or more, by-product processing operations (§§ 432.20 — 432.36); and
(3) low-processing packinghouses, which not only slaughter animals but process meat from animals killed at that plant into cured, smoked, canned, and other prepared meat products, normally processing less than the total kill (§§ 432.30-432.36); and
(4) high-processing packinghouses, which not only slaughter animals but process meat from both animals killed at the plant and animals killed elsewhere (§§ 432.40 — 432.46).
For existing sources in each subcategory, the regulations set forth “[e]ffluent limitations guidelines” for 1977, which are apparently intended to constitute both guidelines under § 304(b) and effluent limitations under § 301(b), 40 C.F.R. §§ 432.12, 432.22, 432.32, 432.42. The same is true of the 1983 standards. 40 C.F.R. §§ 432.13, 432.23, 432.33, 432.-43.
The regulations limit the discharge of “BOD5,” “TSS,” and ammonia, in addition to other pollutants not involved in this proceeding. Two of these terms require explanation:
BOD5. The initials “BOD” stand for “biochemical oxygen demand” and describe pollutants which, when they decompose, deplete oxygen necessary to support aquatic life. BOD5 is BOD measured over a five-day period.
TSS. The initials “TSS” stand for “total suspended solids,” which are particles of organic and inorganic matter suspended in the water or floating on its surface.
The regulations permit the discharge of certain amounts of BOD5 and TSS per 1,000 pounds (or per 1,000 kilograms) of live weight killed (“LWK”). The 1983 ammonia standard is set in terms of milligrams of ammonia per liter of effluent (mg/1), which shows the concentration of ammonia in the effluent. The regulations challenged in this case are the existing source limitations for 1977 and 1983 relating to BOD5 and TSS, and those for 1983 relating to ammonia.
These limitations are set out in the following table:
A. Simple B0D5
slaughter- TSS houses Ammonia
B. Complex B0D5
slaughter- TSS houses Ammonia
C. Low B0D5
processing TSS packinghouses Ammonia
D. High B0D5
processing TSS packinghouses Ammonia
1977 1983
Maximum Maximum Dally Daily
Average Average
for 30 for 30
Consecutive Consecutive Days Days
.12.03
.20 ’.05
— 4.00
.21.04
.25.07
— 4.00
.17.04
.24.06
— 4.00
.24.08
.31.10
— 4.00
The maximum discharge for any individual day is twice the maximum daily average for any 30 consecutive days.
I.
Jurisdiction and EPA’s Authority To Promulgate Effluent Limitations Under § 301
At the threshold, we are met with a challenge to our jurisdiction. AMI’s petition for direct review of the existing source regulations is grounded on § 509(b)(1), which provides in pertinent part as follows:
“Review of the Administrator’s action. (E) in approving or promulgating any effluent limitation or other limitation under section 301, 302, or 306... may be had by any interested person in the Circuit Court of Appeals of the United States for the Federal judicial district in which such person resides or transacts such business....”
We thus have jurisdiction to review the existing-source regulations before us if they are “effluent limitation[s]. under section 301.”
The regulations unquestionably fall within the statutory definition of effluent limitations. Section 502(11) defines “effluent limitation” as “any restriction established by a State or the Administrator on quantities, rates, and concentrations” of discharges from point sources. Furthermore, the preambles to both the proposed and final regulations state that the regulations are promulgated pursuant to § 301 and § 304(b). 39 Fed.Reg. 7894 (1974) (final regulations); 38 Fed.Reg. 29858 (1973) (proposed regulations). Thus, on the surface, there would appear to be no question that the regulations are “effluent limitations” and “promulgated under § 301.”
Nevertheless, and although the parties agree that the Administrator had authority to establish these regulations under § 301, his authority has been challenged by amici curiae, who argue that he had authority to issue such regulations as § 304(b) guidelines but not as § 301 effluent limitations. If this is so, our jurisdiction would at best be questionable, since § 509(b)(1), the source of our jurisdiction, does not provide that § 304(b) guidelines are directly reviewable. We therefore must consider whether the Administrator has authority to promulgate existing-source regulations under § 301. While ordinarily we would not allow amici to inject new issues into a case, our continuing duty to satisfy ourselves of our jurisdiction requires us to consider their argument.
Amici assert that individual effluent limitations must be established for each existing point source through the permit-issuing process of § 402, using regulations promulgated under § 304(b) as guidelines. Thus, effluent limitations would be set on a case-by-case basis, rather than being prescribed by regulations covering entire subcategories. Under this view, the Administrator lacked the authority to establish across-the-board effluent limitations by regulation, so the regulations were not properly issued as § 301 limitations and are therefore not reviewable here. In essence, this was the position adopted by the Eighth Circuit in CPC International Inc. v. Train, 515 F.2d 1032, 1037 (8th Cir. 1975). In that case, the court held that it lacked jurisdiction to review similar regulations promulgated for a different point source category. The Third Circuit, in American Iron and Steel Institute v. EPA, 526 F.2d 1027, No. 74-1640 (Nov. 7, 1975), has reached an opposite result, as have several district courts. E. I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. v. Train, 383 F.Supp. 1244, 1253 (W.D.Va.1974), appeal pending, No. 74--2237 (4th Cir.); American Paper Inst. v. Train, 381 F.Supp. 553, 554 (D.D.C.1973), appeal pending, No. 74-1544 (D.C.Cir.); American Petroleum Inst. v. Train, No. 74-F-8 at 6 (D.Col., April 8, 1975).
In EPA’s view, the Act calls for the setting of across-the-board effluent limitations pursuant to § 301(b), based on guidelines prescribed pursuant to § 304(b). The permit-issuing process, according to EPA, is a mechanism for verifying compliance by each plant and individualizing the effluent limitations to the extent required by the peculiarities of individual point sources.
In choosing between these conflicting views, we are guided by the teaching of the Supreme Court in Train v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 421 U.S. 60, 95 S.Ct. 1470, 43 L.Ed.2d 731 (1975), which arose under the Clean Air Amendments of 1970, 42 U.S.C. § 1857a et seq. The courts of appeals had given varying interpretations of that Act, all of which differed from the one adopted by the agency. Noting that “[t]he disparity among the courts of appeals rather strongly indicates that the question does not admit of an easy answer,” the Court said that while the agency’s construction was not “the only one it permissibly could have adopted,... it was at the very least sufficiently reasonable that it should have been accepted by the reviewing courts,” 421 U.S. at 75, 95 S.Ct. at 1480, and, further, “sufficiently reasonable to preclude the Court of Appeals [in that case] from substituting its judgment for that of the Agency.” Id. at 87, 95 S.Ct. at 1485. Our inquiry then is not whether the agency’s interpretation of § 301 is the only permissible one, but rather whether it is sufficiently reasonable to preclude us from substituting our judgment for that of the agency.. See also, McLaren v. Fleischer, 256 U.S. 477, 480-481, 41 S.Ct. 577, 65 L.Ed. 1052 (1921).
The heart of the controversy is the interpretation of §§ 301, 304, and 509(b). As we have already noted, in providing for direct review in the courts of appeals of “the Administrator’s action. in approving or promulgating any effluent limitation... under section 301,” § 509(b)(1) appears to contemplate that the Administrator will adopt effluent limitations under § 301. While § 301 itself does not expressly direct the Administrator to promulgate effluent limitations, subsection (a) of § 301 provides that “[e]xcept as in compliance with this section.. the discharge of any pollutant by any person shall be unlawful”; subsection (b) requires the achievement of certain “effluent limitations for point sources” by 1977 and other “effluent limitations for categories and classes of point sources” by 1983 — language difficult to reconcile with the view that individual effluent limitations are to be set when each permit is issued; and subsection (e) adds that “[e]ffluent limitations established pursuant to this section or section 302 of this Act shall be applied to all point sources..” Finally, the first sentence in § 304(b) provides that “[f]or the purpose of adopting or revising effluent limitations under this Act the Administrator shall... publish... guidelines for effluent limitations....”
In addition to these provisions, the language of several other sections of the Act relating to effluent limitations supports EPA. Section 302(a) allows, under certain circumstances, stricter effluent limitations than the “effluent limitations required under section 301(b)(2).” See also § 302(c). Section 303(d)(1)(A) requires each state to “identify those waters within its boundaries for which the effluent limitations required by section 301(b)(1)... are not stringent enough to implement any water quality standard applicable to such waters.” And § 309(a)(3), (c), and (d) prohibit violations of “section 301, 302., or.. of any permit condition or limitation implementing any of such sections in a permit issued under section 402 of this Act....” See also § 316(b) and (c). The reference to limitations in these sections, while not specifying how or by whom they are to be established, is nonetheless “further support for the position that Congress intended the section 301(b) limitations to have an independent existence” apart from the permit process. American Iron and Steel Institute v. EPA, supra, 526 F.2d at 1039.
Under § 401(a)(1), applicants for any federal license must obtain state certification that they comply with § 301 or that “there is not an applicable effluent limitation... under sections 301(b) and 302...” We find this language especially significant because it cannot be construed as referring to §§ 301(a), (c) or (f), the explanation the Eighth Circuit gave for other references to “effluent limitations under § 301.” CPC International Inc. v. Train, supra, 515 F.2d at 1042-1043. In addition, § 505(f), which defines “effluent standard or limitation under this Act” for purposes of § 505 (the citizen suit provision), includes in the definition, “(2) an effluent limitation or other limitation under section 301 or 302 of this Act,” and “(6) a permit or condition thereof..” We agree with the courts in American Iron and Steel Institute v. EPA, supra, 526 F.2d at 1038, and E. I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. v. Train, 383 F.Supp. 1244, 1251 (W.D.Va.1974), appeal pending, No. 74-2237 (4th Cir.), that under the interpretation of the Act urged by amici here subsections (2) and (6) of § 505(f) would be redundant, and disagree with the Eight Circuit (CPC International Inc. v. Train, supra, 515 F.2d at 1043) that the reference to § 301 in § 505(f)(2) is to § 301(f). In summary, the most natural reading of the language of the Act is that § 301 is a source of authority to promulgate effluent limitations, independent of the § 402 permit procedure.
The legislative history also contains support for the EPA position. Senator Bentsen, a member of the Public Works Committee that reported out the original version of the Act, stated during the Senate debate:
“In phase I, for point sources of pollutants, effluent limits shall be established not later than January 1, 1976 [now July 1, 1977], which comply with specifically defined levels of effluent control and treatment. As defined in section 301(b)(1) of the bill, and as elaborated in the regulations which we anticipate the Administrator shall issue pursuant to sections 301 and 304, these... goals shall be at least the ‘best practicable control technology currently available’ for [industrial] point sources....” Quoted in Congressional Research Service, A Legislative History of Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, at 1283 (1973) (emphasis added) (hereinafter “Leg.Hist.”).
The Senate Report stated specifically that, “pursuant to subsection 301(b)(1) (A) and section 304(b)” the Administrator is to interpret “best practicable” as a “basis for specifying clear and precise effluent limitations.” Leg.Hist. 1468. Also, during Senate consideration of the conference committee report, Senator Muskie, the principal author of the Act, explained:
“[T]he conference agreement provides that each poluter within a category or class of industrial sources will be required to achieve nationally uniform effluent limitations based on ‘best practicable’ technology no later than July 1, 1977. This does not mean that the Administrator cannot require compliance by an earlier date; it means that these limitations must be achieved no later than July 1, 1977, that they must be uniform, and that they will be final upon the issuance of a permit under section 402 of the bill.” Leg.Hist. at 162 (emphasis added).
In a written explanation prepared by Senator Muskie and submitted by him to the Senate during the debate on the conference report, he indicated that “practicability” and “availability” are not to be determined on a plant-by-plant basis. Rather, he explained, the conferees intended that
“the factors described in section 304(b) [cost, age of equipment, type of manufacturing process, engineering aspects of pollution control techniques] be considered only within classes or categories of point sources and that such factors not be considered at the time of the application of an effluent limitation to an individual point source within such a category or class.” Leg.Hist. 172.
Cf. Leg.Hist. 169-170, 254-255. It is unnecessary to multiply these examples. Those we have given are- sufficient to show the reasonableness of the EPA position.
Much of the remaining legislative history, including some cited by the Eighth Circuit, CPC International Inc. v. Train, supra, 515 F.2d at 1039-1040, is ambiguous. The ambiguity derives from § 502(11), which defines “effluent limitation” to mean any restriction on discharges established by the Administrator or a state, “including schedules of compliance.” Consequently, statements in the legislative history about the role of the states in setting “effluent limitations” can be read to refer either to target limitations or to schedules of compliance.
The EPA position represents a reasonable accommodation of the policies embodied in the Act. On the one hand, nátionwide effluent limits will insure the uniformity Senator Muskie and others stressed. See Leg.Hist. 132, 162, 170, 309, 466-467, 517, 577, 711, 1219, 1405. On the other hand, the states will retain a major role in regulating water pollution, in accord with § 101(b) of the Act. In administering the permit system, the states will have to specify schedules of compliance and determine in some cases whether a variance is justified or whether stricter discharge controls are needed to achieve water quality standards. Thus, the EPA position gives weight to both the policy of uniformity and that of federalism.
EPA’s interpretation also avoids anomalies that would result from acceptance of the Eight Circuit’s interpretation of the Act in the CPC case. Under the CPC interpretation, individual EPA permits (§ 402) based on the nationally-uniform guidelines would be directly reviewed in the court of appeals, § 509(b)(1)(F); yet the nationwide guidelines themselves would be reviewed in the first instance by the district court. CPC International Inc. v. Train, supra, 515 F.2d at 1038. Similarly, variances from the 1983 effluent limitations (§ 301(c)) would be directly reviewable in the court of appeals, 515 F.2d at 1043; but the effluent limitations themselves, which apply to “categories and classes” of point sources, would be reviewed initially by the district court. These results conflict with the congressional purpose of using direct review in the courts of appeals to insure expeditious and consistent application of effluent guidelines. See E. I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. v. Train, supra, 383 F.Supp. at 1253-1254. Cf. Leg.Hist. 1503.
We conclude that the position chosen by the EPA “was ‘correct,’ to the extent that it can be said with complete assurance that any particular interpretation of a complex statute such as this is the ‘correct’ one.” Train v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., supra, 421 U.S. at 87, 95 S.Ct. 1470, 1485, 43 L.Ed.2d 731. We therefore sustain EPA’s interpretation of the statute, and find that it had the authority to issue effluent limitations under § 301 and that we have the authority to review the regulations under § 509(b)(1).
II.
The Standard of Review
We begin our discussion of the merits by noting the relevant standard of review. Under § 10(e) of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A), agency action in an informal rulemaking proceeding is to be sustained unless “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.” See also Camp v. Pitts, 411 U.S. 138, 141-142, 93 S.Ct. 1241, 36 L.Ed.2d 106 (1973). This standard requires us to determine whether “the decision was based on a consideration of the relevant factors and whether there has been a clear error of judgment.” Citizens To Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe, 401 U.S. 402, 416, 91 S.Ct. 814, 824, 28 L.Ed.2d 136 (1971). We are not to set the effluent limitations ourselves or substitute our judgment for the agency’s. Id.; Portland Cement Association v. Ruckelshaus, 158 U.S.App.D.C. 308, 486 F.2d 375, 402 (1973), cert. denied, 417 U.S. 921, 94 S.Ct. 2628, 41 L.Ed.2d 226 (1974). Rather, we are to determine whether the limitations set by the agency are “the result of reasoned decision-making.” Essex Chemical Corp. v. Ruckelshaus, 158 U.S.App.D.C. 360, 486 F.2d 427, 434 (1973), cert. denied sub nom., Appalachian Power Company v. EPA, 416 U.S. 969, 94 S.Ct. 1991, 40 L.Ed.2d 558 (1974). If the basis stated by the agency for its decision is insufficient, we may not supply another that the agency itself has not chosen to rely on. SEC v. Chenery Corp., 318 U.S. 80, 63 S.Ct. 454, 87 L.Ed. 494 (1943), 332 U.S. 194, 196, 67 S.Ct. 1575, 91 L.Ed. 1995 (1947); FPC v. Texaco Inc., 417 U.S. 380, 395-396, 94 S.Ct. 2315, 41 L.Ed.2d 141 (1974). We must, however, “uphold a decision of less than ideal clarity if the agency’s path may reasonably be discerned.” Bowman Transportation, Inc. v. Arkansas-Best Freight Systems, Inc., 419 U.S. 281, 286, 95 S.Ct. 438, 442, 42 L.Ed.2d 447 (1974).
III.
The 1977 BOD5 and TSS Limitations
AMI’s first challenge is directed at the 1977 effluent limitations, which require application of “the best practicable control technology currently available.” For guidance in interpreting that term, EPA looks to Senator Muskie’s written explanation to the Senate, referred to at note 18, supra, in which he stated as follows:
“In defining ‘best practicable’ for any given industrial category, the Committee expects the Administrator to take a number of factors into account. These factors should include the age of the plants, their size, the unit processes involved, and the cost of applying such controls.
“The Administrator should establish the range of ‘best practicable’ levels based upon the average of the best existing performance by plants of various sizes, ages, and unit processes within each industrial category. In those industrial categories where present practices are uniformly inadequate, the Administrator should interpret ‘best practicable’ to require higher levels of control than any currently in place if he determines that the technology to achieve those higher levels can be practicably applied.
“ ‘Best practicable’ can be interpreted as the equivalent of secondary treatment for industry, but this interpretation should not be construed to limit the authority of the Administrator.” Leg.Hist. 169-170.
This, we think, is a reasonable view of the Administrator’s responsibility. The “best practicable technology” will normally be defined based on the average performance of the best existing plants. If, however, the Administrator concludes that present practices in an industrial category are uniformly inadequate, he may require levels of control based on technology not presently in use in the category (or, it would seem, technology in use only by a single plant), if he determines, by applying the criteria listed in § 304(b)(1)(B), that this technology can be practicably applied throughout the category. One of these criteria is the cost of applying the proposed technology in relation to the resulting effluent reduction. With these principles in mind, we turn to AMI’s challenges to the 1977 standards.
A.
Technology Relied on by EPA for Achievement of 1977 BOD5 and TSS Standards
It appears from the EPA comments introducing the final regulation, 39 Fed. Reg. 7896 (February 28, 1974), that the 1977 effluent limitations are based primarily on the technology of biological treatment through a three-lagoon system. This is considered “secondary” treatment, that is, treatment which takes place after the waste water has passed through “primary,” in-plant treatment systems. In a three-lagoon system, waste water from the plant flows first into the anaerobic lagoon, where organic matter in the effluent is partially consumed by anaerobic bacteria (bacteria that do not require free oxygen). To increase oxygen levels in the waste water, it is then mechanically aerated in the aerated lagoon. The water then flows to the aerobic lagoon, where most of the remaining organic matter is consumed by aerobic bacteria (bacteria that do need oxygen). After being held there for a relatively long period, the waste water is discharged.
EPA estimates, based on a sampling survey, that 63% of the slaughterhouses and packinghouses discharging into waterways already have lagoon systems. FDD 125. Apparently, many of these systems do not include mechanical aeration. The cost-benefit analysis made by EPA is based on the cost of adding mechanical aeration to those lagoon systems. 39 Fed.Reg. 7896. Other treatment systems mentioned in the comments were not subjected to the cost-benefit analysis required by § 304(b). Because only the three-lagoon system has been cost-justified, it is the only technology that can be considered “practicable” as that term is defined in § 304(b).
B.
The Effect of Climate and Temperature on the Efficiency of Aerobic and Anaerobic Lagoon Systems
AMI’s first argument, aimed at the 1977 effluent limitations for all four subcategories of plants, is that, while the proposed lagoon system qualifies as practicable, it cannot achieve the limitations on a year-round basis because of seasonal and climatic effects. Winter conditions, according to AMI, impair the efficiency of both anaerobic and aerobic lagoons, while algae growth in the summer increases BOD5 and TSS.
(1) The Effect of Winter Temperatures on the Anaerobic Lagoon
The optimum temperature for an anaerobic lagoon is approximately 90 °F. Cold temperatures cause it to function less efficiently by slowing bacterial activity. The issue is the magnitude of this effect. AMI relies on an authority which says that removals are reduced to 70%. It conceded in its submittal to the agency, however, that the effect of winter temperatures on the anaerobic lagoon is small.
EPA argues that winter temperatures are counteracted by the heat of incoming waste water (80-100 °F.) and by the insulating grease cover that forms over the pool. An article concerning the Wilson plant at Cherokee, Iowa, reports that the grease cover on the anaerobic pool, after taking some time to build up, insulated the effluent and maintained satisfactory temperatures. The anaerobic pond at that plant operated at a 92% level of efficiency in February 1970 EPA’s conclusion is also supported by data on other plants supplied by the State of Iowa, which show, for example, that at one plant the anaerobic temperature on two dates in January 1972 was 77-78°F.
AMI has not satisfactorily refuted this evidence. Nor has it otherwise demonstrated that whatever decrease in anaerobic removals does take place in winter will affect the efficiency of the system as a whole sufficiently to prevent attainment of the standards. AMI’s own graph, submitted for the purpose of showing seasonal effects at American Beef’s plant at Oakland, Iowa, indicates that over a two-year period the plant met the BOD5 limitation in all but one of the coldest winter months (December through February). EPA also points to data from other plants which show that the 1977 limitations were met for extended periods that included winter months. These data are especially significant because they do not show the direct correlation AMI suggests between removal efficiency and cold weather. Finally, even assuming that cold weather reduces the efficiency of the anaerobic lagoon, overall system efficiency would be impaired only slightly, because a lagoon system as a whole responds much less to changed conditions than any of its parts.
We conclude that there is firm record support for EPA’s conclusion on the effect of cold weather on the efficiency of the anaerobic lagoon.
(2) The Effect of Winter Temperatures on the Aerobic Lagoon
Like anaerobic lagoons, aerobic lagoons operate less efficiently in winter. Cold temperatures inhibit aerobic microorganisms, and ice and snow covers reduce the oxygen content of water. EPA argues that these difficulties can be ameliorated by increasing detention time, thereby giving the microorganisms more time to work, by using additional aerobic ponds, or by using submerged aerators. We agree with AMI that EPA’s argument as to these countermeasures is inadequately supported by the record.
The record does suggest, however, that winter conditions do not make compliance with the 1977 standards impossible, since some plants have succeeded in complying with the BOD5 standards in winter. One such plant was the Wilson plant at Cherokee, Iowa, which maintained a 45% level of aerobic removal of BOD5 in February. The American Beef plant at Oakland, Iowa, also met the BOD5 limitations during the winter months, as did several other plants. AMI’s argument that some of these plants should be disregarded because they did not discharge in some winter months is unsound. As counsel for EPA pointed out during oral argument, a plant which does not discharge during a given period may be continuing its operations while storing its effluent. Our examination of the record confirms that the plants in question continued operations during periods when they did not discharge. The time of release is unimportant,

Question: What federal agency's decision was reviewed by the court of appeals?
A. Benefits Review Board
B. Civil Aeronautics Board
C. Civil Service Commission
D. Federal Communications Commission
E. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
F. Federal Power Commission
G. Federal Maritime Commission
H. Federal Trade Commission
I. Interstate Commerce Commission
J. National Labor Relations Board
K. Atomic Energy Commission
L. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
M. Securities & Exchange Commission
N. Other federal agency
O. Not ascertained or not applicable
Answer:

Answer: N