The EPA on Rising Acidity Levels on the West Coast

On Thursday the EPA said it will consider the ways US states can address rising acidity levels in the ocean. This decision was announced in a legal statement with the Center for Biological Diversity, which sued the EPA last year for not requiring the state of Washington to list its coastal waters as impaired by rising acidity levels under the Clean Water Act. In the legal statement the EPA will take public comment on the increasing acidity levels in the ocean, ways states can determine if their water are affected, and how states can limit the pollutants that cause the rise in acidity. Previously, states focused only on acidic levels in streams and lakes under the Clean Water Act and this is the first time the EPA has agreed to consider ocean acidity.
Oceans are becoming more acidic due to rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere that are being absorbed by the water. The changing acidity levels affect many types of marine life, but have a an especially strong effect on anything that grows a shell or hard covering.

Focusing on the ocean is a good shift from focusing only on lakes and streams since ocean pollution is a worldwide problem. It is good the EPA is taking steps to address ocean acidity levels, although I think this should have been done much sooner.