The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5–4 on March 4 that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) wastewater discharge permitting system violates federal law.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote the majority opinion in City and County of San Francisco v. EPA. The opinion was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, along with Justices Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, and Neil Gorsuch.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote a dissenting opinion that was joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
The nation’s highest court ruled that the EPA must provide specific effluent limitations to wastewater facilities and the governmental bodies that operate them. Effluent is liquid waste or sewage released into a sea or river….