Opinion ID: 78056
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 16

Heading: Justification for High-Level Disinfection

Text: Finally, the County additionally complains that the Final Rule's imposition of a high-level disinfection requirement, as opposed to some lower level of disinfection, is arbitrary and capricious. However, the high-level disinfection standard is the same one imposed by the State of Florida upon any wastewater that might come into contact with the public before microbial pathogens have a chance sufficiently to degrade. Incomplete information about the movement and fate of pathogens during the injection process and beyond serves as a rational basis for requiring high-level disinfection prior to injection to prevent endangerment to USDWs. See Am. Iron & Steel Inst., 115 F.3d at 993. For all of these reasons, we conclude that the Final Rule is a reasonable interpretation of the statute, is sufficiently supported by the administrative record, and is not arbitrary and capricious. Thus, we defer to the judgment of the EPA. See Chevron, 467 U.S. at 843, 104 S.Ct. at 2782; Legal Envtl. Assistance Found., 118 F.3d at 1473.