Citizens for a Better Environment v. Environmental Protection Agency

Section 101(e) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) stated that the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (defendant) should establish regulations specifying minimum requirements for public participation in environmental enforcement. The legislative history for the 1972 amendments to the FWPCA stated that the EPA’s administrator was directed to encourage public participation. The sponsor of the amendments stated that provisions encouraging public participation were to be applied across the entire statute, including in establishing permit programs. In 1977, the EPA approved Illinois’s application to administer a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit system. Citizens for a Better Environment (CBE) (plaintiff), an environmental group, challenged the approval, arguing that it violated the FWPCA. The EPA had not set out guidelines for public participation in state permit systems. Illinois’s program allowed citizens to file suits with the Illinois Pollution Control Board and to intervene in state enforcement actions. However, CBE argued that the adequacy of these measures could not be assessed because of the lack of guidance from the EPA. The EPA argued that the provisions of the FWPCA concerning public participation in enforcement were very general and did not specifically require the EPA to issue guidelines about public participation. The EPA also argued that the Illinois program provided sufficient provision for public participation for approval without the issuance of guidelines.