Justices Appear Open to Limit Vague Water Pollution Permits (1)

The US Supreme Court seemed poised in oral arguments Wednesday to allow the EPA to impose generic effluent limitations on cities only if the agency has exhausted all other efforts to get information it needs.

The central question in City and County of San Francisco v. EPA is whether the Environmental Protection Agency can require wastewater systems to comply with nonspecific, or generic effluent limitations, set in National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits governing pollution from sewer overflows during storms.

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in July 2023 upheld EPA’s authority to issue generic limits ...