On August 4, 2014, two Ohio residents filed a complaint in federal court alleging that Ohio EPA violated the Clean Water Act in 2001 when the agency transferred its discharge permitting authority for concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) to the Ohio Department of Agriculture without notifying U.S. EPA until 2006. The lawsuit seeks a court order directing that only Ohio EPA can issue discharge permits for CAFOs and, thus, prohibiting the Department of Agriculture from issuing any discharge permits, and declaring that U.S. EPA violated the CWA by not suspending Ohio EPA's permitting authority after learning of the improper transfer.
