Agency oversteps its authority in seeking to force changes to Iowa DNR methodology for assessing water impairments.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is overstepping its authority and breaking 20 years of precedent with its effort to force the state of Iowa to change its methodology for determining impaired waters, the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation said last week in comments submitted to the agency.

On Nov. 13, EPA Region 7 (EPA-7) partially disapproved of Iowa’s 2024 list of impaired waters [Section 303(d)] and added seven water segments to the list for exceeding nitrate...