City and County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency
Issues
Does the Clean Water Act allow the Environmental Protection Agency to discipline permit-holders for violations of water quality standards without enumerating specific limits to which permit holders’ water discharges must conform?
This case asks the Supreme Court to determine if the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) must impose specific limits in the permits it distributes under the Clean Water Act (“CWA”). The CWA empowers the EPA to issue National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) permits to cities and businesses that discharge waste. The City of San Francisco contends that the EPA can only establish limitations on effluent discharges under the permit, and that it lacks the authority to establish other generic requirements. The EPA counters that its authority reaches beyond effluent limitations and that it is permitted to enforce limitations on water receiving standards. The outcome of this case has profound implications on businesses’ ability to avoid legal liability, as well as the interests of local communities.
Questions as Framed for the Court by the Parties
Whether the Clean Water Act allows EPA (or an authorized state) to impose generic prohibitions in NPDES permits that subject permitholders to enforcement for exceedances of water quality standards without identifying specific limits to which their discharges must conform.
Like most cities in the United States, San Francisco operates a combined sewer system that collects both sewage and stormwater runoff. City of San Francisco v. U.S. EPA (“Ninth Circuit”) at 7. During extreme weather, the system occasionally exceeds capacity causing a combined sewer overflow (“CSO”) that discharges pollutants into surrounding waterways.
Additional Resources
- Bobby Magill, High Court to Weigh Whether EPA Must Define ‘Too Much’ Pollution, Bloomberg Law (May 28, 2024).
- Jimmy Hoover, At Supreme Court, EPA Defends Allegedly ‘Vague’ Sewage Permit for San Francisco, National Law Journal (Aug. 30, 2024).
- Sonja Rzepski, US Supreme Court to consider legality of generic prohibitions in pollutant discharge permits, Jurist (May 30, 2024).