Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. EPA

The Clean Water Act (CWA) created water-quality standards for water bodies in the states, establishing maximum allowable concentrations of pollutants. Further, § 304(l) of the CWA required the states to identify point sources that discharged toxic pollutants into certain water bodies (the identification requirement). A point source was a discrete mechanism that transported pollutants. Toxic pollutants were pollutants that caused death or disease. Section 304(l) required the states to prepare three lists of water bodies. First, § 304(l)(1)(B) required a list of water bodies that were expected to fail to meet water-quality standards due to toxic pollutants from point sources (the B list). Second, § 304(l)(1)(A)(i) required a list of water bodies that were expected to fail to meet water-quality standards due to toxic pollutants from nonpoint sources (the A(i) list). Third, § 304(l)(1)(A)(ii) required a list of water bodies that were expected to fail to meet water-quality standards due to nontoxic pollutants (the A(ii) list). Although the discharge of toxic pollutants from point sources was not the reason that water bodies on the A(i) and A(ii) lists were expected to fail to meet water-quality standards, there were point sources discharging toxic pollutants into these water bodies. Moreover, § 304(l) indicated that water bodies on the lists were subject to the identification requirement, specifically using the plural “lists.” Nonetheless, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (defendant) enacted a regulation declaring that the identification requirement applied only to water bodies on the B list. Subsequently, the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) (plaintiff) brought suit, contending that the identification requirement also applied to water bodies on the A(i) and A(ii) lists. The court of appeals had original jurisdiction to hear the case.