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Rep. Mercer seeks repeal of numeric nutrient criteria; DEQ and conservation groups split on path forward
Summary
House Bill 664 would reverse DEQ’s 2015 numeric nutrient criteria by repealing related administrative rules and require the department to pursue narrative standards and other tools; DEQ and several conservation groups supported resetting processes, while other environmental and municipal advocates warned the bill could remove numeric protections
Representative Bill Mercer opened House Bill 664, which would direct the Department of Environmental Quality to repeal numeric nutrient criteria adopted in 2015 and return the state to narrative nutrient standards and the variance framework that accompanied that earlier work. Mercer said the numeric criteria and the variance structure were developed together, and that subsequent federal actions and EPA decisions have decoupled numeric criteria from the variance authority the Legislature intended.
Mercer reviewed the historical record in his testimony, citing the 2011 legislative direction (Senate Bill 367), DEQ rulemaking, communications with EPA Region 8, and the nutrient working group’s multi-year process. He told the committee that an EPA action in 2017 altered the agency’s approach,…
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