Water Quality Criteria Development and Transparency Act

HR 7021 requires the EPA to issue new or revised water quality standards through formal rulemaking procedures, rather than informal guidelines. It also specifies that legal challenges to these standards must follow the same judicial review process used for other EPA rules. The bill directly affects the EPA’s process for developing water quality criteria, which are used by states to set pollution limits for water bodies. This change aims to increase transparency and consistency in how water quality standards are established and challenged.