Sanitary Board of the City of Charleston v. Wheeler

Under the Clean Water Act, a state was required to establish water-quality standards for each water body within the state. A state established a water-quality standard by defining the acceptable levels of pollutants for a particular water body. If a state revised a water-quality standard, the revised standard had to be approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (defendant). The Sanitary Board of the City of Charleston (the board) (plaintiff) operated a wastewater-treatment facility that discharged copper into the Kanawha River in West Virginia (the state). After meeting with the board, the state determined that the copper limit contained in the water-quality standard for the Kanawha River should be increased. In developing its revised water-quality standard, the state used the water-effect-ratio (WER) method for measuring copper toxicity. The WER method assessed only a limited range of water characteristics at a specific time. By contrast, the biotic-ligand-model (BLM) method assessed a wider range of water characteristics over the course of time and was thus considered a superior means of measuring copper toxicity. Applying the BLM method, the EPA concluded that the copper limit set by the state in its revised water-quality standard was too high. Hence, the EPA rejected the state’s revised water-quality standard. Subsequently, the board brought suit, contending that the EPA’s decision to reject the state’s revised water-quality standard was arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The district court dismissed the case. The board appealed.