Ocean Discharge Criteria and Marine Protected Areas: Ocean Water Quality Protection Under the Clean Water Act

In May 2000, President Clinton issued his Marine Protected Areas Executive Order, which, inter alia, required EPA to use its existing authority under the Clean Water Act to protect ocean waters. In response, EPA drafted new ocean discharge criteria for the first time since 1980. This Article discusses these new ocean discharge criteria, concluding that the Clean Water Act needs to be amended to allow EPA to promulgate marine water quality standards, which have more far-reaching protections than do ocean discharge criteria for ocean and coastal waters.