By ERIN BECK
The Register-Herald
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia lawmakers voted Friday to give companies that discharge cancer-causing chemicals into West Virginia waterways another year to gather information before new water quality standards would be implemented.
Companies have already had several years to gather that information, as the new standards were first recommended by the federal Environmental Protection Agency in 2015.
The Clean Water Act, a federal law, requires states to review water quality standards every three years. In 2015, the EPA recommended that West Virginia update water quality standards for 94 pollutants known to have human health effects, including pesticides. The standards specify concentrations of pollutants allowed in rivers and streams.
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