Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. Muszynski

Appeal from that part of a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Peter K. Leisure, Judge) dismissing plaintiffs’ claims alleging violations of the Clean Water Act (“CWA”), 33 U.S.C. � 1251, et seq., and the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”), 5 U.S.C. � 500, et seq., resulting from defendants’ approval of the State of New York’s total maximum daily loads for phosphorus in eight New York reservoirs. Affirmed in part, vacated and remanded in part.

Plaintiffs-Appellants Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., Environmental Defense Fund, Inc., and Alan G. Hevesi (collectively “NRDC”) appeal from a May 30, 2000, judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Peter K. Leisure, Judge), entered upon a May 2, 2000, Opinion and Order. NRDC challenges only the district court’s dismissal of its claim brought under the APA seeking judicial review of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) decision to approve total maximum daily loads (“TMDLs”) for phosphorous for eight New York reservoirs. The TMDLs were submitted to EPA by the State of New York pursuant to the CWA, 33 U.S.C. � 1313. We affirm the district court’s holding that the CWA does not require TMDLs to be expressed in terms of daily loads, but remand to the district court for remand to EPA for further explanation of why annual loads are appropriate in the case of New York’s phosphorus TMDLs.