Challenge to Industrial Wastewater Guidelines Meets Wary Circuit

A federal appeals court seemed hesitant to remand the Environmental Protection Agency’s water pollution limits for industrials after environmental groups argued the agency failed to consider the latest toxic filtration and pollution tracking technology.

Waterkeeper Alliance struggled to convince the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that the EPA’s decision not update effluent limits for discharging facilities like as oil refineries or industrial farms was arbitrary during oral arguments Thursday.

Judge Carlos Bea seemed skeptical the effluent guidelines published in 2021 amounted to final agency action the court has jurisdiction over, as the EPA simply chose to investigate ...