Cite as: 503 U. S. 91 (1992)
Opinion of the Court
only be violated if the discharge effected an "actually detectable or measurable" change in water quality. App. to Pet. for Cert. in No. 90-1262, p. 117a.
This interpretation of the Oklahoma standards is certainly reasonable and consistent with the purposes and principles of the Clean Water Act. As the Chief Judicial Officer noted, "unless there is some method for measuring compliance, there is no way to ensure compliance." Id., at 118a, n. 16 (internal quotation marks omitted; citation omitted). Moreover, this interpretation of the Oklahoma standards makes eminent sense in the interstate context: If every discharge that had some theoretical impact on a downstream State were interpreted as "degrading" the downstream waters, downstream States might wield an effective veto over upstream discharges.
The EPA's application of those standards in these cases was also sound. On remand, the ALJ scrutinized the record and made explicit factual findings regarding four primary measures of water quality under the Oklahoma standards: eutrophication,15 esthetics,16 dissolved oxygen,17 and met-15 Eutrophication is the "normally slow aging process by which a lake evolves into a bog or marsh . . . . During eutrophication the lake becomes so rich in nutritive compounds (especially nitrogen and phosphorus) that algae and other microscopic plant life become superabundant, thereby 'choking' the lake . . . ." App. 57-58. With regard to eutrophication, the ALJ found that the Fayetteville plant would discharge 30 pounds of phosphorus per day, only about 6 pounds of which would reach the Arkansas/Oklahoma border, and that such a small amount would not result in an increase in eutrophication. App. to Pet. for Cert. in No. 90-1262, p. 129a.
16 With regard to esthetics, the ALJ concluded that the only discharged compound that would affect esthetics was phosphorus and that, again, the amount of that substance crossing the border would not affect the esthetic quality of Oklahoma's waters. Id., at 135a-136a.
17 With regard to dissolved oxygen, the ALJ found that in the 39 miles between discharge and the border the effluent would experience "complete oxygen recovery" and therefore would not affect the dissolved oxygen levels in the river. Id., at 140a.
111
Page: Index Previous 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007