Court ruling restricts EPA's ability to limit water pollution
March 6, 2025
Riverkeeper Team
The Supreme Court’s recent ruling in the San Francisco case has significantly reduced the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to hold polluters responsible for keeping water quality above the minimum standards that protect human health and the environment.
The EPA’s Clean Water Act pollution discharge permits may no longer contain general conditions prohibiting discharges from violating water quality standard laws. The decision weakens water quality protections and upends the decades-old Clean Water Act permitting framework, placing an extreme additional burden on the EPA at a time when the agency faces staffing and funding cuts.
Statement from Michael Dulong, Legal Program Director at Riverkeeper:
“This Supreme Court decision undermines the Clean Water Act and puts polluter profit ahead of environmental and public health. The decision will cause increased water pollution, not just for sewage, but for all pollutants — such as toxins like lead and arsenic, fertilizers, and even thermal discharges that kill fish — affecting the health, environment and economies of communities across the country.”
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