On May 28, 2024, the United States Supreme Court granted the petition for a writ of certiorari that Beveridge & Diamond filed in January in partnership with its client, the City and County of San Francisco. 

As shared earlier this year, the petition seeks review of a Ninth Circuit decision holding that the Clean Water Act allows the imposition of generic prohibitions against violating water quality standards in National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) included such a prohibition in the NPDES permit for the wastewater collection and treatment system that serves the western portion of San Francisco. Similar generic bans against violating water quality standards are found in NPDES permits issued nationwide by EPA and authorized states.

The case is captioned City and County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency, No. 23-753, and the Court is expected to hear argument during its upcoming Term that starts in October.

Coverage of the Court’s decision to grant review can be found in Law360, E&E News, Bloomberg Law, The San Francisco Chronicle, and InsideEPA.

Coverage of San Francisco’s July 19 brief to the high court can be found in Bloomberg Law and Law360.