ELR Citation: ELR 20700
No(s). 01-2905 (8th Cir. May 6, 2002)

The court dismisses a soybean association's lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) challenging its approval of Missouri's 1998 Clean Water Act §303(d) list of impaired waters. The association argued that the Agency should have disapproved the state's list of pollution-impaired waters because some of the listed waters lacked documentation of pollution. The court first holds, however, that the association failed to present a ripe claim. It did not show that EPA's approval of the list affected the association's members in any concrete way. The association's complaint focuses on potential harm to its members resulting from stricter controls of the use of the challenged waters. More stringent controls on water use, however, will not occur until after total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) are developed and implemented. Until objectionable TMDLs are developed and implemented, the association's claims of harm are too remote to be anything other than speculative. Because the suit is not ripe for adjudication, the court dismisses the suit for lack of jurisdiction without prejudice.

The full text of this decision is available from ELR (6 pp., ELR Order No. L-520).

Counsel for Plaintiffs
Dale R. Schmidt
Law Offices of Dale R. Schmidt
708 Pendleton St., Alexandria VA 22314
(703) 836-1406

Counsel for Defendants
Helen Fahey
U.S. Attorney's Office
2100 Jamieson Ave., Alexandria VA 22314
(703) 299-3700