The question of where and how San Francisco should measure its stormwater discharge was debated in the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The case has sparked a fear among environmental groups, as well as the state of California and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, that the Supreme Court, which leans conservative, might use this case to loosen regulatory powers nationwide.

The case is based on a dispute over San Francisco’s oceanside combined stormwater and wastewater discharge permit. In San Francisco, and in many cities around the country, heavy rain pushes stormwater and wastewater systems beyond capacity, and they end up mixing in their rush to the sea.

“There’s two ways that you can regulate, or think about protecting water quality,” said managing attorney Eric Buescher from San Francisco Baykeeper, an environmental watchdog nonprofit. “One is to limit the pollutants that come out of a pipe from a city or an industrial facility. One is to address how much pollutants are in the water that that pipe goes into.”

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Source: CBS Bay Area