The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday morning sided with San Francisco and its unusual alliance of oil companies and business groups in a case it brought against the federal Environmental Protection Agency over the city’s raw sewage.
Environmentalists have raised concerns that the court’s conservative majority could use the case to roll back clean water protections on a national scale. The city, meanwhile, argued it was only seeking clarity on permit limitations and believed it was being held responsible for more than its share of water pollution.
San Francisco filed its lawsuit challenging the EPA’s discharge regulations as too vague after the federal agency and the California State Water Resources Control Board lodged a civil complaint in federal court against the city in May. The agencies’ complaint alleged numerous Clean Water Act violations over the last decade as the city repeatedly spilled raw sewage onto streets and beaches during big storms.
Read the Full ArticleSource: KQED