The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will send federal regulators to Madison to inspect Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) records in October. EPA personnel will investigate DNR files in response to an October 2015 petition by Midwest Environmental Advocates and a group of Wisconsin citizens. The petition claims that DNR officials have not adequately implemented parts of the Clean Water Act.

Midwest Environmental Advocates, an environmental law center, filed the Petition for Corrective Action in Oct. 2015 on behalf of 16 citizens who claim that the DNR is not issuing water pollution permits in compliance with the Clean Water Act. The petitioners also cited issues with Wisconsin’s growing list of impaired waters.

In 2011, the EPA sent the DNR a letter outlining 75 points where the DNR was out of compliance with the Clean Water Act. The petitioners argue that little progress has been made in addressing these problems and have asked the EPA to work with the DNR to establish timelines for compliance.