Dan Burke

November 18, 2008

On November 13, 2008, the Center for Biological Diversity (the Center) filed a formal petition stating that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency failed to use the Clean Water Act (CWA) to respond to the threat of ocean acidification. Ocean acidification occurs when pollutants, such as carbon dioxide, raise the pH level of the ocean water. In its petition, the Center asked the EPA to implement stricter pH standards for ocean water quality and guidance to help curb this threat. The petition urged the EPA to respond or else face a lawsuit.

The CWA requires the EPA to update water quality standards based on the latest scientific knowledge. Standards governing the pH of water have not been updated since 1976 and the amount of scientific data on the impacts of carbon dioxide and increased pH in marine ecosystems has increased dramatically over the last two decades. If the EPA does take measures to strengthen the pH water-quality standards, the CWA requires states to adopt similar standards that are at least as protective as the standard established by the EPA. The Center hopes this will lead to measures designed to regulate pollutants such as carbon dioxide which cause ocean acidification.

The world's oceans cover approximately seventy percent of the Earth's surface and are estimated to absorb about twenty-two million tons of carbon dioxide of the eighty million tons emitted worldwide every day. This absorption causes the seawater to become more acidic. The increased acidity impairs the ability of marine organisms to build the protective shells and skeletons needed to survive. Particularly affected are coral reefs, which research shows can adapt to increases in water temperature but cannot adapt to long-term increases in pH. Scientists estimate that corals could survive in the conditions predicted for 2100 but would grow at such a reduced rate that they could be pushed out of their ecological niche by seaweeds and other organisms.

According to Miyoko Sakashita, an attorney with the Center, "[o]cean acidification is global warming's evil twin. The EPA has a duty under the Clean Water Act to protect our nation's waters from pollution, and today, carbon dioxide is one of the biggest threats to our ocean waters." Researchers agree that the current standard set by the EPA is woefully inadequate. It allows for a decline of 0.2 pH, which would be catastrophic for the marine ecosystem.

The Bush Administration has strongly opposed legal maneuvers to limit greenhouse gases through existing environmental laws. Similar efforts have been initiated by environmental groups by using the Clean Air Act and Endangered Species Act to protect polar bears from global warming.

The EPA has sixty days to address the violations of the CWA alleged by the Center before it can initiate legal action.

Sources:

Press Release, Center for Biological Diversity, Environmental Protection Agency Warned to Address Ocean Acidification of Face Lawsuit (Nov. 13, 2008) (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2008/ocean-acidification-11-13-2008.html).

Presse Release, Center for Biological Diversity, Lax Standard Fails to Prevent Souring Seas; Group Petitions EPA to Address Threat of Ocean Acidification (Dec. 18, 2007) (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/ocean-acidification-12-18-2007.html).

Andrew C. Revkin, Group Set to Sue Over Clean Water Act, N.Y. Times, Nov. 14 2008, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/14/science/earth/14brfs-GROUPSETTOSU_BRF.html?_r=1&ref=earth.

Andrew C. Revkin, Water Laws May Be Used to Fight Warming, N.Y. Times, Nov. 13, 2008, 3:38 PM, http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/13/water-laws-may-be-used-to-fight-warming.

Andrew C. Revkin, Carbon Dioxide Is Double Threat to Reefs, N.Y. Times, Dec. 13, 2007, 5:04 PM, http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/13/carbon-dioxide-is-double-threat-to-reefs.