The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that EPA cannot enforce requirements in wastewater permits that “do not spell out what a permittee must do or refrain from doing,” in a major blow to the agency’s power under the Clean Water Act. The 5-4 decision in San Francisco v. EPA resolves a long-running dispute between the progressive West Coast city and the nation’s environmental regulator. … San Francisco had challenged EPA’s attempts to fine the city for allegedly violating its wastewater permit for a sewage treatment plant, which releases large quantities of stormwater and sewage during rain events. The city argued that EPA was wrong to rely on generic provisions in the wastewater permit to impose crushing fines under the Clean Water Act. EPA, city attorneys said, could only go after sewage treatment plants for quantitative pollutant discharges.

Related articles:

• Courthouse News Service: Supreme Court deals blow to wastewater regulations, nixing generic restrictions on discharge permits 
• The Washington Post: Supreme Court strikes down EPA rules on discharge of water pollution​