On Aug. 22, the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set national water quality criteria for plastics. According to the petition, every year plastic threatens hundreds of thousands of marine mammals and sea birds due to entanglement and ingestion, and its main source is urban runoff.

The Center for Biological Diversity is looking to EPA for both qualitative and numeric standards. Only Los Angeles and the District of Columbia currently have total maximum daily loads for trash. Read more.