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Clean Water Act › Statutory Interpretation › Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

The Clean Water Act is a United States federal statute enacted in 1972 to reduce levels of toxic substances in the nation's water supply and to prevent high levels of new contamination.  The CWA seeks to... more +
The Clean Water Act is a United States federal statute enacted in 1972 to reduce levels of toxic substances in the nation's water supply and to prevent high levels of new contamination.  The CWA seeks to accomplish its stated goals by preventing point and nonpoint pollution sources, assisting wastewater treatment facilities and maintaining wetlands. less -
Tonkon Torp LLP

U.S. Supreme Court Limits EPA Discretion in Landmark NPDES Permit Decision

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The Supreme Court’s recent decision in City and County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA) 604 U.S. ____ (2025) significantly alters the regulatory landscape for NPDES permits under the Clean Water Act...more

Stoel Rives LLP

Recent Ninth Circuit Decision Suggests Effluent Limitation Guidelines Across Multiple Industry Categories May Be Changing Soon

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In its recent decision in Waterkeeper Alliance v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, No. 23-636 (9th Cir. June 18, 2025), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) failed to...more

Greenberg Glusker LLP

Supreme Court Narrows EPA’s Authority to Set Limitations in Clean Water Act Permits

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On March 4, 2025, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in City and County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency, holding that EPA does not have the authority to issue “end-result” requirements in National...more

Nossaman LLP

The End of “End-Result” Permit Limitations in Clean Water Act Permits

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On March 4, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in the case City and County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency, in which it held that “end-result” requirements routinely imposed by the U.S....more

Miller Starr Regalia

The Federal Clean Water Act In 2025: A Retracting Construction

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More than 50 years ago, the Federal Clean Water Act (CWA or Act) was enacted by Congress to protect the quality of the Nation’s waters. The scope of that protection has been evolving ever since. Until relatively recently, the...more

Bricker Graydon LLP

Supreme Court Limits EPA Permitting Authority in City and County of San Fran v. US EPA

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On March 4, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5-4 opinion in City and County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency, holding that “end-result” requirements routinely imposed by the EPA in NPDES permits issued...more

Dickinson Wright

Supreme Court Limits EPA's Power Over NPDES Water Permits

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In a much-anticipated decision, the U.S. Supreme Court significantly narrowed the EPA's authority under the Clean Water Act (CWA) to impose so-called "end-result" requirements in NPDES permits. These "end-result" requirements...more

Beveridge & Diamond PC

B&D, City and County of San Francisco Secure U.S. Supreme Court Win on Major Clean Water Act Issue

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On March 4, the City and County of San Francisco and a Beveridge & Diamond (B&D) team led by Principal Drew Silton (Washington, DC), secured a significant victory in the U.S. Supreme Court in City and County of San Francisco...more

Perkins Coie

San Francisco v. EPA: Supreme Court Decides Clean Water Act Permits May Not Include Receiving Water Limits

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In City and County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency, 604 U.S. ___, 145 S. Ct. 704 (2025), in a 5-4 decision issued on March 4, the Supreme Court of the United States struck down two provisions in San...more

Morgan Lewis

In Yet Another Decision Restricting EPA Authority, US Supreme Court Holds EPA Cannot Set CWA Permit Limits

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The US Supreme Court held in City and County of San Francisco v. EPA that the US Environmental Protection Agency lacks authority under the Clean Water Act to include “end-result” limitations in National Pollutant Discharge...more

Jones Day

U.S. Supreme Court Limits EPA Clean Water Act Permitting Authority

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On March 4, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in City & County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency and clarified the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ("EPA") and state...more

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

Supreme Court Strikes Down ​“End-Result” Requirements in NPDES Permits

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On March 4, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that prohibits the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA” or ​“the Agency”) from setting qualitative limits based on the condition of the ​“receiving waters” that...more

Venable LLP

Textualism Is More Than Dictionaries: The Supreme Court's Latest Clean Water Act Decision Looks to History and Context

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When it rains too much in San Francisco, the city's wastewater treatment plant can get overloaded. An overloaded wastewater treatment plant means that a city-operated, EPA-permitted point source in the Pacific Ocean could...more

McGlinchey Stafford

SCOTUS Rolls Back EPA’s Permitting Authority under the CWA

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On March 4, 2025, the United States Supreme Court issued its ruling in City and County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency, limiting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s permitting authority under...more

ArentFox Schiff

A Divided SCOTUS Invalidates Common Provisions of Clean Water Act Permits

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In the US Supreme Court’s first post-Chevron decision involving the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the Supreme Court found against EPA, invalidating ‘end result’ NPDES permit requirements....more

Nossaman LLP

City and County of San Francisco vs. EPA: Implications for Clean Water Act Permittees

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On March 4, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in the case City and County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency, in which it held that “end-result” requirements routinely imposed by the U.S....more

Jenner & Block

Client Alert: US Supreme Court Rules Against EPA in Clean Water Act Permitting Dispute

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The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the City and County of San Francisco in a case against the US Environmental Protection Agency involving the scope of the Clean Water Act. See City & Cty. of San Francisco v. Environmental...more

Epstein Becker & Green

Textualism Again Comes to the Fore, Albeit with Contradictory Views on the Court - SCOTUS Today

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Only a few readers of SCOTUS Today are lawyers who are professionally occupied with environmental matters. However, almost all of my readers are constantly occupied with administrative law matters, governed in the...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Supreme Court Decides City and County of San Francisco, California v. Environmental Protection Agency

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On March 3, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court decided City and County of San Francisco, California v. Environmental Protection Agency, No. 23-753, holding that Section 1311(b)(1)(A) of the Clean Water Act does not authorize the...more

Quarles & Brady LLP

The Future of Environmental Regulation after the Supreme Court Decisions in Loper Bright and Corner Post

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Just in time to celebrate our Nation’s birthday, the United States Supreme Court brought out its hammer to again chip away at the administrative state in two landmark decisions: Loper Bright Enterprises et al. v. Raimondo,...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law

More Evidence that Chevron Is Not a Liberal Plot

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November 26, 2019, Judge William Young ruled that discharges to groundwater are not subject to Clean Water Act jurisdiction, even if they ultimately reach surface waters that are unambiguously waters of the United States. He...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law

More Sauce For the Chevron Goose

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Last week, EPA proposed revisions to its regulations governing the issuance of water quality certifications under § 401 of the Clean Water Act. The regulations are long-overdue and, notwithstanding the source, some of the...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

The River No Longer Runs through It: EPA to Cease Regulating Releases of Pollutants to Groundwater

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After decades of insisting otherwise and before the U.S. Supreme Court has had a chance to rule on the issue, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took steps to limit its interpretation of the Clean Water Act’s...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law

When is the Meaning of a Statute Sufficiently Plain? The D.C. Circuit Restores EPA Authority to Withdraw Approval of Section 404...

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In a decision on Tuesday that must have sent shivers down the spine of every coal company executive, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals restored EPA’s authority to withdraw the specification of streams for the disposal of...more

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