The Supreme Court (SCOTUS) is set to hear a case questioning if the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the authority to impose generic prohibitions on entities that hold National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits that address water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants into U.S. waters.

On Oct. 16, 2024, SCOTUS will hear arguments in the case City and County of San Francisco v. EPA to determine if the Clean Water Act (CWA) allows EPA (or an authorized state) to impose generic limitations on NPDES permit holders for specific pollutants, according to court documents.

The CWA requires EPA and states to develop specific limits to achieve water quality goals for surface waters. The case was previously heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit which ruled that EPA may issue permits that contain generic prohibitions against violating water quality standards.

However, plaintiff claims that rather than providing specific pollutant limits that tell NPDES permit holders how much control needs to be exercised over water discharges to ensure compliance with the CWA, the EPA’s generic prohibitions effectively tell permit holders nothing more than not to cause “too much” pollution, court documents say.

Because of the lack of specific discharge standards, plaintiff San Francisco claims those generic water quality terms expose that city, and numerous permit holders nationwide to enforcement actions while failing to tell them how much they need to limit or treat their discharges to comply with the CWA. 

The docket number of the case is 23-753, and more information can be found on the SCOTUS website.