Clean Water Act Liability for Stormwater Discharge Regardless of Who Muddied the Waters

Abstract

"The CWA prohibits “the discharge of any pollutant by any person”4 into “navigable waters from any point source” unless done in compliance with the provisions of the CWA.5 Such pollutants include “dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste.”6 A point source is “any discernible, confined and discrete conveyance, including but not limited to any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, conduit, well, discrete fissure, container, rolling stock, concentrated animal feeding operation, or vessel or other floating craft, from which pollutants are or may be discharged.”7 To discharge pollutants from a point source in compliance with the CWA, one must first obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, which requires compliance with numerous requirements, including effluent limitations,8 water-quality standards,9 water monitoring and public reporting obligations, as well as specific discharge requirements.10 In California, the State Water Resources Control Board and nine regional water quality control boards issue NPDES permits.11 Discharges from the District, the County of Los Angeles (County), and eighty-four incorporated municipalities in the County fall under the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board."(pg 36-37)