Opinion ID: 2814626
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Procedural Background, 2011–Present

Text: As discussed above, TMDLs have long been the subject of litigation. Environmental groups continue to press the EPA to promulgate more stringent TMDLs. E.g., Ctr. For Biological Diversity v. EPA, No. 13-cv-1866, 2015 WL 918686 (W.D. Wash. Mar. 2, 2015). Not to be left on the sidelines, commercial concerns took to the courts to air their grievances with the EPA—this time not for acting too slowly, but for acting at all. Our case is of this most recent variety. In January 2011, Farm Bureau sued the EPA under the APA and the citizen-suit provision of the Clean Water Act. It asserted that the EPA exceeded its statutory authority by including deadlines and allocations in the TMDL and by requiring “reasonable assurance” from the states in drafting that document. The District Court granted summary judgment in favor of the EPA, and this appeal followed.