LANSING - Attorney General Mike Cox today announced that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court decision directing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate ballast water discharges under the Clean Water Act.

            "The Great Lakes are Michigan's greatest treasure, and aquatic nuisance species like the zebra mussel and sea lamprey cause significant harm to this delicate ecosystem," Cox said. "I joined this fight with the goal of helping to preserve this environmental and economic resource for future generations."

            At the urging of Cox and other Attorneys General, a federal District Court in California ruled in March 2005 that EPA's refusal to regulate ballast water discharges under the Clean Water Act was inconsistent with that statute.

            In July 2006 the Court ordered EPA regulate ballast water discharges by September 2008. EPA appealed that decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals but the Court sided with Cox and the other Great Lakes region Attorneys General.

            Michigan's Attorney General is hardly a newcomer to this fight. Cox successfully advocated for the passage of state legislation regulating ballast water discharges from vessels operating in Michigan ports beginning in 2007, and has successfully defended that law against a court challenge.

            Cox has also vigorously opposed federal legislative efforts to weaken existing laws that protect the Great Lakes, most recently sending a letter to the U.S. Senate asking it to reject a bill that would exempt ballast water discharges from the Clean Water Act.

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