Task: songer_direct1

What follows is an opinion from a United States Court of Appeals.
Your task is to determine the ideological directionality of the court of appeals decision, coded as "liberal" or "conservative". Consider liberal to be for government tax claim; for person claiming patent or copyright infringement; for the plaintiff alleging the injury; for economic underdog if one party is clearly an underdog in comparison to the other, neither party is clearly an economic underdog; in cases pitting an individual against a business, the individual is presumed to be the economic underdog unless there is a clear indication in the opinion to the contrary; for debtor or bankrupt; for government or private party raising claim of violation of antitrust laws, or party opposing merger; for the economic underdog in private conflict over securities; for individual claiming a benefit from government; for government in disputes over government contracts and government seizure of property; for government regulation in government regulation of business; for greater protection of the environment or greater consumer protection (even if anti-government); for the injured party in admiralty - personal injury; for economic underdog in admiralty and miscellaneous economic cases. Consider the directionality to be "mixed" if the directionality of the decision was intermediate to the extremes defined above or if the decision was mixed (e.g., the conviction of defendant in a criminal trial was affirmed on one count but reversed on a second count or if the conviction was afirmed but the sentence was reduced). Consider "not ascertained" if the directionality could not be determined or if the outcome could not be classified according to any conventional outcome standards.

LIVELY, Senior Circuit Judge.
This case involves the relationship between Titles II and III of the Federal Water Pollution Prevention and Control Act of 1972 (the Act), 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq. The question we must decide is whether the district court correctly ordered the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) to fund 80% of a Sewer System Evaluation Survey (SSES) to be undertaken by the City of Allen Park, Michigan. Along the way we must determine whether the parties and the district court used the term “project” as a description of the entire effort by Allen Park to reconstruct its waste water treatment and disposal system to prevent pollution of the Ecorse Creek, or as a more restricted description of a single phase of the entire reconstruction.
I.
Title II of the Act, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1281-1299, authorizes federal grants for local waste water treatment works. Title III, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1311-1328, establishes pollutant limitations and authorizes EPA to enforce the statutory water quality standards. Each year EPA allots by formula to each state federal funds to be granted via Title II for waste treatment works. Each state establishes priorities for the year among applicants within the state and furnishes EPA with a ranked list of recipients for the allotted funds. A subchapter of EPA’s regulations known as the “Grants for Construction of Treatment Works” program controls the funding of projects. 40 C.F.R. §§ 35.900-35.970 (1991). The operation of the grant program has been described authoritatively as follows:
Projects for waste treatment works are divided into three steps. Step 1 is the planning phase in which the overall facility plan for the project is developed. This involves consideration of alternatives, the determination of the size and scope of the project, and development of other required information to enable the actual design work to begin. This design work, in which construction drawings and specifications are prepared, is Step 2. Step 3 is the actual construction.
Municipal Wastewater Treatment Construction Grant Amendments of 1981, H.R.Rep. No. 270, 97th Cong., 1st Sess., at 4, reprinted in 1981 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News at 2629, 2632. See also 40 C.F.R. § 35.920-3.
Allen Park’s relationship with EPA and MDNR in connection with the pollution problems of Ecorse Creek began in the early 1970s. Under then current regulations EPA funded “projects” for approved grants, which were defined as “[t]he scope of work for which Federal Assistance is awarded by a grant or grant amendment.” 40 C.F.R. § 35.905-16 (1975). Project changes that substantially altered “the objective or scope of the project” or “changed the amount of assistance provided by the grant agreement” required a formal grant amendment. 40 C.F.R. § 35.935-11 (1975). The approval of any one Step 1, 2, or 3 project or grant award did not commit EPA to approval for subsequent projects. 40 C.F.R. § 35.903(m) (1975).
On December 29, 1981, Congress amended Title II of the Act by adding section 201(i)(l), which effectively prohibits EPA from awarding Step 1 or 2 grant money. Municipal Wastewater Treatment Construction Grant Amendments of 1981, Pub.L. No. 97-117, 33 U.S.C. 1281(Z)(1). Section 201(Z)(1) provides:
After December 29, 1981, Federal grants shall not be made for the purpose of providing assistance solely for facility plans, or plans, specifications, and estimates for any proposed project for the construction of a treatment works. In the event that the proposed project receives a grant under this section for construction, the Administrator shall make an allowance in such grant for non-Federal funds expended during the facility planning and advanced engineering and design phase at the prevailing Federal share under section 1282(a) of this title, based on the percentage of total project costs which the Administrator determines is the general experience for such projects.
II.
In May 1969 the Michigan Water Resources Commission (MWRC) began a study of the water quality of the North Branch of Ecorse Creek which flows through several cities near Detroit, including Dearborn Heights, Lincoln Park, Taylor, and appellee Allen Park. The MWRC study revealed that rainfall of less than one inch would cause unacceptable amounts of domestic sanitary sewage and storm water runoff to be discharged into the creek at two outfalls that were fed by the cities’ sewer systems. In 1970, after the release of the water quality study, MDNR ordered the communities polluting Ecorse Creek to stop the flow of waste into the water. See generally State of Michigan v. City of Allen Park, 501 F.Supp. 1007, 1009 (E.D.Mich.1980) (Allen Park I).
In 1974 Wayne County Drain Commissioner Charles Youngblood obtained a Step 1 planning grant from EPA to be used for:
the evaluation of existing sewer systems, the study of alternative treatment works, preparation of the environmental assessment, and the determination of the most cost-effective waste treatment management system that will meet water quality standards and abate pollution presently caused within the Ecorse Creek Basin.
The original “Project Scope” for the grant was merely described as “the preparation of a Facilities Plan in accordance with 40 C.F.R. § 35.917, Facility Planning, for the Ecorse Creek Drain Improvement Drainage District.” EPA’s grant award letter to Commissioner Youngblood cautioned:
it should be clearly understood when the infiltration/inflow analysis task of the facility plan is completed it must be approved by this Agency before any subsequent sewer system evaluation work is undertaken, if the costs of such future work are to be eligible for grant consideration.
After completing his study, Commissioner Youngblood offered three alternative solutions to bring the four cities into compliance with the MDNR order. A report referred to as Element 2 recommended implementation of Alternative 1, which required the cities to construct new sewer systems to separate sanitary sewage from storm runoff. The Wayne County Drainage Board formally selected Alternative 1 in January 1977.
Commissioner Youngblood then procured a Step 2 grant for Element 2 from MDNR and EPA. The Project Scope of the grant encompassed:
that portion of the preparation of plans and specifications for the multipurpose facilities listed below, which relates to the pollution control function as determined by the Alternative Justifiable Expenditures (AJE) method of cost allocation, all in accordance with [Element 2 ]. That portion of the multipurpose project which relates to improvement of the surface drainage is specifically excluded from the eligible project scope.
The Step 2 Grant Conditions included the following:
3. That in accordance with 40 CFR 35.-903(m), the award of grant assistance for this project does not constitute a Federal commitment for approval of grant assistance for any subsequent project.
4. That inasmuch as approval of 40 CFR 35.925-1 facilities planning requirements prerequisite to this award is pursuant to 40 CFR 35.917(d) and further, since this award is pursuant to 40 CFR 35.927-5(c), “Exception,” the grantee agrees (1) to complete the sewer system evaluation survey and any resulting rehabilitation, (2) to complete the remaining facilities planning tasks in accordance with the implementation schedules contained in the tandem Step 1 grant, Project Number C262436 01, which schedules are hereby incorporated by reference, and (3) supplement and/or amend the completed facilities planning tasks as needed consistent therewith.
At the urging of the four cities, Commissioner Youngblood approved implementation of Alternative 1 as the most cost-effective and environmentally beneficial of the proposed solutions. The Allen Park city council also passed a resolution that approved financing for its portion of the project.
That same year EPA and MDNR approved Alternative 1 and tendered Step 3 construction grants under the Act whereby EPA would pay 75% and MDNR would pay 5% of the cost for construction of the sewer separation project, with the remaining 20% being divided among the communities served by the project. Allen Park III, 739 F.Supp. 1102, 1104 (E.D.Mich.1990). The Step 3 grant’s condition 4 was identical to condition 4 of the Step 2 grant. The drainage permit issued pursuant to the Act required completion of facilities to prevent combined sewer overflows by March 31, 1982.
III.
In 1978 the Drainage Board apportioned the financial burden among the four cities. After contractors’ bids were received, Allen Park’s share of the cost was estimated at more than $10 million, payable in installments through the year 2003. Believing it had been assigned too large a share of the cost, Allen Park filed suit against various county administrative agencies seeking an injunction against the project. The parties settled the suit by dividing the project into two segments: one covering Allen Park’s sewer separation, sanitary retention facilities and pumping facilities (contracts 1-5 and 13); and one covering sewer separation and storm water control in the other three cities (contracts 6-12).
A.
The other three cities substantially completed construction under contracts 6-12 by mid-1980. Allen Park I, 501 F.Supp. at 1011. However, Allen Park fell behind. Contractors who had submitted the lowest bids for certain Allen Park contracts filed “citizen suits” (33 U.S.C. § 1365(a)) seeking an order that would require Allen Park to proceed with construction according to schedule because the Step 3 grants would remain “earmarked” only until March 1, 1980. Defendants named included Allen Park, various Wayne County entities involved in drainage matters, EPA and MDNR. Eventually EPA and MDNR were realigned as plaintiffs. After full consideration the district court entered an interim order and a final order, and retained jurisdiction for the purpose of implementation. In its opinion the district court found that the plaintiffs had demonstrated a need for the court to “compel[] financing and construction” by Allen Park, and rejected all of Allen Park’s counterclaims, including its argument that EPA should not have awarded the Step 2 grant until it produced an environmental impact statement. Allen Park I, 501 F.Supp. at 1018. The final order, entered July 1, 1980, directed Allen Park to “proceed forthwith” to fund and construct the “Element II Facilities Plan.” This court affirmed the district court without an opinion, 667 F.2d 1028 (6th Cir.1981), and the Supreme Court denied certiorari, 456 U.S. 927,102 S.Ct. 1974, 72 L.Ed.2d 443 (1982).
After further legal sparring that produced district court orders directing Allen Park to comply with particular construction steps, in 1983 EPA and MDNR filed a motion requesting the district court to set a compliance schedule, complaining that Allen Park had not complied with the 1980 final order. The district court granted the motion and, in effect, adopted the timetable proposed by the agencies. This 1983 order did not impose any duties on the agencies other than to review and make decisions on Allen Park’s project, contract and grant applications.
Meanwhile Allen Park had commissioned and circulated to interested agencies a study by an independent engineering firm which advised that Alternative 1 was not the most cost-effective solution to the city’s drainage problem and offered several alternatives. On petition of EPA the district court conducted a hearing and issued an order that “any alternative considered must lead to at least equal pollution abatement, be less costly and be able to be implemented within the same time.” Allen Park II, 573 F.Supp. 1481, 1484 (E.D.Mich. 1983). Advised that EPA continued to advocate completion of Alternative 1 and could not guarantee funding even for suggested alternatives that might be more cost effective, the district court held that Allen Park had not demonstrated a reason for abandoning Alternative 1 or for reevaluating Element 2. In denying Allen Park’s petition for modification, the court observed:
This is not simply a case where justice, for its own sake, should be delayed.
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A known health hazard has been permitted to exist for over 13 years while various administrative and judicial proceedings interminably ground along their way. Now we have at hand a solution to the problem which all parties agree will help alleviate the problem. We have state and federal funding for the project. We have all the communities involved, with the exception of Allen Park.
Id. at 1486. The district court also issued an order enjoining all parties from instituting further litigation or carrying on any administrative proceedings that would prevent or delay fulfilling the requirements of the 1980 orders or its 1983 compliance schedule.
B.
In March 1985 Commissioner Young-blood applied for a Step 1 grant amendment to cover the cost of SSESs for Lincoln Park and Allen Park, plus the cost of Allen Park’s independent engineering study. Allen Park had not performed an SSES, but the Lincoln Park SSES was nearing completion. MDNR agreed to review and determine grant eligibility for the Lincoln Park SSES, but declined to take action on Allen Park’s request. The agency explained that Lincoln Park had accepted its SSES in time for the project “to be ranked on the FY’84 project priority list update,” whereas Allen Park was not eligible for a Step 1 grant amendment. Youngblood tried again on behalf of Allen Park in 1987, seeking an increase in the Step 1 grant from MDNR to conduct Allen Park’s SSES. MDNR replied that a Step 1 grant amendment to fund the SSES was not possible “[although our office notified your office and consulting engineer that the review and approval of the SSES contract was not necessary and would not impact on subsequent grant funding.” MDNR then advised:
As in the case for Lincoln Park, the cost to perform the SSES could be funded through a Step 2 allowance based on a future project eligible for a Step 3 grant. We are precluded from funding the SSES as a Step 1 grant amendment by the 1981 Amendments to the Clean Water Act; State Construction Management Plan of 1982 and the Federal Guidance Memorandum of September 27, 1985. The 1981 Amendments to the Clean Water Act eliminated future funding of Step 1 and Step 2 grants. The Construction Management Plan of 1982 precluded increasing the scope of a Step 1 and Step 2 grant, except when subsequent Step 2 + 3[] or Step 3 grant funding is projected within the next three allotments.
The MDNR letter quoted a September 27, 1985, Federal Guidance Memorandum on management of Step grants as follows: 1 and Step 2
Step 1 or Step 2 projects which are physically complete may not be “re-opened” via a grant amendment for any reason.
The letter continued:
The Allen Park portion of the Ecorse Creek Project is physically complete and is thus out of the realm for a grant amendment.
In summary, the responsibility for conducting the SSES and recommending rehabilitation for Allen Park remains with the County. The State will review a Step 3 Application for approval upon receipt and when grant funds may be available.
Seeking administrative review of MDNR’s decision by EPA, the Drainage Board argued that the SSES was part of the original Step 1 grant award and that the sewer separation could not be complete as MDNR held it was, if a remaining grant condition — the SSES — was incomplete. The Board, relying on a 1982 “Interim Final Regulation,” contended that section 201(Z)(1) (the 1981 amendment) should not be applied retroactively to this request, asserting that the Step 1 grant was awarded before the amendment. Finally, the Board argued that section 201(Z)(1) was enacted to stop grant funding for planning proposed projects and was therefore not applicable to the Allen Park SSES because it was not a planning study. (An SSES is usually performed during the Step 1 (or “planning”) stage of a proposed sewer project on an existing sewer system in order to determine what will be required to bring the system into compliance with state and federal regulations. Element 2, however, recommended that SSESs be performed for Allen Park and Lincoln Park after separate construction was completed and all parties accepted this recommendation.)
EPA’s response forecast the agency’s position in the district court and in this court on appeal:
We do not agree that the SSES is part of the Step 1 project nearing completion. Rather, we conclude the grant amendment represents a continuation of an existing grant, already awarded. The key word in this element of the issue is “project,” which is defined in [40 C.F.R. §§ 35.905-16, 35.930-4], The scope of the project as defined in the grant amendment does not include an SSES for the City of Allen Park, and, therefore, is not part of the existing Step 1 project.
Referring to its policy following enactment of section 201(i)(l), EPA stated:
This policy provided for awarding grant amendments to active Step 1 and Step 2 projects to complete existing works scopes, provided the administrative completion of the project would not exceed FY 1987 — September 30, 1987. Physically complete projects could not be reopened for any reason.
EPA conceded that “the original intent of all parties was to conduct the SSES after the initial sewer separation and retention basin construction,” but then found that they were not applying Section 201(Z)(1) retroactively because the definition of “project” remained the same from the time the Drainage Board received the Step 1 grant until 1987 and the SSES was not part of the original Step 1 project grant. EPA also determined that nothing in the district court’s 1980 interim or final orders nor the 1983 injunction precluded them from denying the grant amendment because the earlier orders only addressed Step 2 and Step 3 grants. EPA concluded:
[t]he facts irrefutably establish that the scope of work for the Allen Park SSES was not included in the original Step 1 Grant project C262436 01 or any of the subsequent amendments. It is also clear that the District’s attempt to have the Allen Park SSES included via amendment occurred substantially after the enactment of the 1981 Amendments to the Act which precluded funding new Step 1 and Step 2 projects. While the impacts of the 1981 amendments to the Act could not have been foreseen, in order to receive Step 3 grant C262436 03, the District provided the requisite assurances and agreed to perform the SSES and any subsequent rehabilitation as required by 40 CFR 35.927-5(c), which was incorporated into the grant as Special Condition No. 4. The Special Condition carried no promise or guarantee of future funding.
EPA indicated that this decision was based on section 201(Z )(1) and the Federal Guidance Memorandum and constituted final agency action.
C.
Allen Park filed a motion in the district court under the All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651, for “Enforcement of Judgment to Compel Funding” of the SSES. In its memorandum in support, Allen Park maintained that “[d]uring the entire trial proceedings, the USEPA and MDNR represented to this Court that The Project would be grant funded and that, in fact, a Step 3 grant was already in place for this Project;” that the court and Allen Park had relied on this representation; that “[t]here was no dispute that the project sought [by the agencies] to be mandated would be fully grant funded;” and that Element 2 always provided for an SSES in Allen Park. Finally, Allen Park argued that further appeals of the EPA’s decision through the administrative process would be “fruitless.” As support for the argument that the district court’s 1980 and 1983 orders required the MDNR and EPA to provide grant funding, Allen Park cited MDNR official Paul Zugger’s statement at a recent compliance conference with the district judge that the SSES was necessary for compliance and was part of the court-ordered project.
In response, MDNR argued that the district court’s 1980 final order only addressed the Step 3 grant and that the 1983 order setting a schedule of compliance only addressed the Steps 2 and 3 grants. MDNR also argued that Allen Park’s failure to exhaust administrative remedies precluded court action on the motion. Finally, MDNR maintained that the court was without the authority to grant relief under United States v. City of Detroit, 720 F.2d 443 (6th Cir.1983), in which we held that a district court has no power to overrule EPA and MDNR’s allocation and reallocation of funds under the Act. EPA and MDNR added that Section 201(i)(l) precluded funding for SSES work. Allen Park III, 739 F.Supp. at 1106. The agencies also filed a motion to terminate Judge Feikens’ earlier orders, explaining that the parties had completely performed them.
EPA reiterated MDNR’s arguments and added that its decision not to fund the SSES should be afforded great deference by the district court.
D.
While reserving a final decision until MDNR could file a supplemental memorandum, Judge Feikens made statements at the hearing that indicated an inclination to grant Allen Park’s motion:
I never heard at any time that the regulatory agencies... raised the point that they would not come through with the requisite grants that were contemplated to do this. That, it seemed to me, was part and parcel of the whole project.
In the Allen Park case, I ordered Allen Park to separate its sewers. I did so on the implicit understanding that grant funding would enable Allen Park to do it.
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I don’t want to be misunderstood. I don’t think I have any power to order something to be done in the future. I have no power to levy taxes. I don’t have any power to provide for these funds. I’m approaching this on the basis that this was a part of the original undertaking and that what I’m asked to do here by Allen Park and Wayne County is enforce what was the understanding at that time. And in simplified terms, it was that the SSES study would come after sewers had been separated and would be funded.
Now, if I’m wrong on that in the history of this case, then I would be wrong in entering that order, but if I’m right on that—
In its supplementary response MDNR conceded that the district court might have the authority to decide the questions raised by the motion, but contended that it had no power to order the payment of grant funds. MDNR also argued that Allen Park had misconstrued the term “project,” used to encompass all of its steps taken to comply with Title III of the Act, rather than in a more restricted sense of referring to a funded “project” under Title II. According to MDNR, the SSES did not become a “project” for Title II funding purposes until the 1985 grant amendment application was received. Allen Park replied that the sewer separation was an “ongoing project.”
Judge Feikens issued a written opinion and order in which he traced the history of the proceedings between the parties and implied that he denied Allen Park’s 1983 motion to modify the 1980 order at least in part because there would be funding for Element 2 Alternative 1. Allen Park III, 739 F.Supp. at 1105. The court then found:
The [Element 2] Plan had been introduced and relied on throughout the trial as a description of the work that both sides agreed needed to be completed. Included in the Plan that was ordered at the close of the trial was the Allen Park SSES.
Until recently, MDNR and EPA represented to me and to the defendants that the project for which they sought implementation would be grant funded. Throughout the extensive proceedings, all parties understood that grant funding was a necessary and agreed-upon aspect of this case and was required for the success of the sewer separation project. This court, Allen Park, and Ecorse Abatement Drainage District all relied on MDNR and EPA’s representations.
Id. at 1106. The court pointed to specific language in its 1983 opinion and order as evidence of the court’s reliance on the availability of funds for the SSES and the applicability of the 1983 injunction to the agencies refusal to fund the SSES. Allen Park II, 573 F.Supp. at 1486 (“ ‘We have state and federal funding for the project,’ “any party [was enjoined] from instituting any litigation or administrative proceedings that sought or had the effect of withdrawing grants or grant contracts”).
The court held that its “prior orders and judgments in this case encompassed the grant funding by MDNR and EPA of the Allen Park SSES” and that the court’s equitable powers extended to enforce its previous orders which had been “thwarted.” Id. The court found that the agencies’ approval of the decision to delay the SSES until after construction prevented them from now arguing that they would not grant money for a completed project. Id. Finally, the court did not determine whether section 201(i)(l) “actually prohibits the funding of an SSES as EPA claims” but held that section 201(i )(1) was not applicable to the Allen Park SSES because the court’s 1980 opinion and order predated the 1981 amendment and the amendment was not given retroactive effect. Id. at 1107. Finally, the court denied the agencies’ motion to terminate the earlier orders, and retained jurisdiction. Id. This appeal followed.
IV.
The arguments on behalf of the appellants EPA and MDNR emphasize the meaning of “project” under the Act, the distinctions between the “Steps” and the fact that the Act does not condition compliance with water quality standards mandated in Title III upon the availability of grant funds under Title II.
A.
The appellants assert that “project” has a technical meaning under the Act. “Project” refers to the undertakings covered by a particular grant and each Step grant (or grant application) defines a discrete project. They contend that the entire program for eliminating pollution of Ecorse Creek by controlling waste water from the four cities was not a “project” within the meaning of the Act. On the other hand, the SSES requirement that each city was required to obtain was necessarily a Step 1 project, since it involved planning, or perhaps a Step 2 project, involving design work.
The appellants’ argument continues that the original Step 1 and 2 grants for the four cities did not identify funds for the SSESs, because it was agreed that more could be achieved by deferring these studies until the sewer separation facilities construction was completed or near completion. The other three cities reached that point on schedule, and then filed amended Step 1 requests for grants to fund the surveys. Because Allen Park did not proceed with the construction of its facilities as promptly as required by the district court, but sought to avoid its obligations, the district court finally issued its injunc-tive order of 1983. When Allen Park reached the point where it required an SSES to complete its compliance with Title III requirements, it sought to amend its Step 1 grant application to obtain funds for the SSES. By that time, however, Congress had amended the Act to provide that no grants could be made to fund Step 1 or 2 projects.
Thus, EPA and MDNR argue, any reference by the parties or the court to the entire Ecorse Creek cleanup program as the “project” was a non-technical description that could not override the operation of the Act as prescribed by Congress. The SSES project could not be funded through the Step 3 grant, which was limited to actual construction of facilities, and it was too late to fund it through an amended Step 1 or 2 grant. Thus, they contend, the district court exceeded its authority by ordering the appellants to fund Allen Park’s SSES in 1990. No previous order of the court had ever “encompassed” funding for the SSES, and EPA and MDNR did not violate the district court’s 1983 order by denying grant funding.
Finally, the appellants contend that this was an enforcement action against Allen Park pursuant to Title III of the Act; it does not concern the grant provisions of Title II. They argue that the statutory scheme devised by Congress does not provide for a court order compelling EPA to grant funds pursuant to Title II. The Act vests authority in EPA to administer Title II grants, and the district court order violates the separation of powers doctrine. They assert that the All Writs Act provides no basis for the order directing the appellants to fund Allen Park’s SSES. Because the district court had no jurisdiction to order the grant of funds, the All Writs Act could not be invoked; it may be used by a court only in aid of jurisdiction already acquired on some other basis.
MDNR also contends that the district court should not have considered the issue of grant funding for the SSES because Allen Park failed to exhaust administrative remedies available to it under the 1972 Act.
B.
Allen Park argues that the district court did not exceed its authority. Its 1990 order did not compel EPA and MDNR to make grants, but required them to provide funding for grants they had previously made. Both the 1980 and 1983 orders compelled Allen Park to take certain actions to remedy pollution and drainage problems affecting Ecorse Creek, and the 1990 order merely enforced compliance with the earlier orders. Allen Park maintains that it was required to provide an SSES under these court orders, and that it was understood from the beginning that the “project” would be fully grant funded. The “project,” according to Allen Park, included all phases of the four cities’ remedial actions required to achieve the water quality standards for Ecorse Creek.
Because the SSES activities, although part of the planning process, were deferred until the sewer separation was completed, Allen Park argues, funding for these studies was necessarily included in the Step 1 grant commitment. EPA and MDNR consented to deferring the SSESs until completion, and cannot be heard to claim that they were never included in the grant commitments. For more than ten years all parties agreed that the entire “project” would receive 80% grant funding, and the district court entered its 1980 and 1983 orders on that understanding.
The 1981 amendment to the Act, section 201(i)(l), provides that it does not apply retroactively. The appellants are arguing for retroactive application, according to Allen Park, by relying on the amendment as a bar to funding the SSES. This would be a retroactive application because the SSES was part of the “project” from the beginning. The district court did not seek to compel EPA and MDNR to provide new funding for the SSES, according to Allen Park. The 1990 order merely directed them to carry out the terms of their prior commitment. Because it did not compel funding of a new grant, the district court’s order did not implicate section 201(Z )(1) at all.
Allen Park also argues that under the All Writs Act the district court had authority to compel compliance with its prior orders, which were based on the parties’ and court’s understanding of the appellants’ funding commitments. Furthermore, the city contends, the district court could rely on judicial estoppel to prevent EPA and MDNR from refusing to honor their previous commitments to fund the SSES through grants as they had other phases of the “project.”
V.
This litigation commenced with a complaint filed December 12, 1979, by four contractors who were low bidders for the sewer separation required under Alternative 1 of Element 2. Allen Park, various Wayne County entities concerned with drainage, EPA, and MDNR were named defendants. The complaint stated that although EPA and MDNR had tendered Step 3 grants for the necessary construction work, Allen Park refused to participate in the “project” and had attempted to interfere with its effectuation. The funds were earmarked only until March 1, 1980, and the plaintiffs sought an order requiring Allen Park to award contracts in accordance with the low bids and requiring EPA and MDNR to provide the funds for construction under contracts 1 through 5.
A.
The district court considered the case on an expedited basis. After a non-jury trial the court issued its interim order on May 16, 1980. That order required the Wayne County Drain Commissioner to obtain and furnish to the court and counsel an independent estimate of the cost of contracts 1 through 5. The order also required EPA and MDNR to review the independent estimates and decide whether to award grants on contracts 1 through 5 as bid or to reject the bids. It also required the appropriate parties to take all steps necessary for a bond issue to fund Allen Park’s portion of “the element II plan.” Finally, it directed the drain commissioner to relocate and redesign, as required, contract 13, the retention facility portion of the Element 2 plan.
The final order, dated June 30, 1980, further implemented the interim order and directed the drainage authorities “forthwith to fund and construct the Element II Facilities Plan Alternative 1, in its entirety,” including contracts 1 through 5 and a retention basin that became contract 13. It directed these parties to apportion the costs and directed Allen Park to provide funds each year as necessary to meet its share, by a special tax or otherwise. The court retained jurisdiction “for the purpose of implementing the judgment.”
The district court filed an opinion, Allen Park I, in which it concluded that it had jurisdiction under section 505(a) of the Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1365(a) which provides for citizen suits, and 28 U.S.C. § 1331, the general “federal question” provision. 501 F.Supp. at 1012. In its opinion the court concluded that failure of the drainage authorities and Allen Park to undertake the necessary actions to comply with the construction schedule contained in the permit constituted a violation of section 301(a) of the Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1311(a), and of the Michigan Water Resources Commission Act, M.C.L. § 323.7(1). The opinion concluded as follows:
Because of Allen Park’s refusal to proceed with financing its segment of the project, plaintiffs are entitled to injunc-tive relief compelling financing and construction of the Allen Park segment of the Element 2 Final Plan, a project determined necessary for the public health.
501 F.Supp. at 1024. As with the orders, the opinion contained no specific direction concerning grant funding by EPA or MDNR.
B.
The 1983 order was entered on February 15 in response to a motion by the plaintiff contractors requesting the court to set a compliance schedule with respect to its previous orders and judgment. The 1983 order directed the defendant county and district drainage authorities to comply with the 1980 interim and final order in accordance with a schedule set forth. Part III of the order dealt with “Financing, Grant Administration and Construction” and directed the Drainage Board to approve the assessment rolls and estimates of costs “for the court-ordered project” by March 16, 1983. It set a timetable for the various steps related to financing construction. Paragraphs I and J are pertinent to this dispute:
I. The MDNR shall approve or disapprove the Step 3 grant amendment request by December 12, 1983.
J. The U.S. EPA shall approve or disapprove the Step 3 grant amendment request by January 6, 1984.
Upon motions for injunction and for orders to require Allen Park to show cause why it should not be held in contempt for its failure to comply with the requirements of the 1980 final order for payment of its share of the costs of the pollution abatement of Ecorse Creek, the district court ordered the city to pay the Drainage District no later than October 11, 1983. The order, dated October 3, 1983, then enjoined all parties from “instituting, appearing in or carrying on any litigation or any administrative proceedings...
A. which will have the effect of preventing or delaying any of the parties or their officers, agents, attorneys or employees from fully carrying out and complying with this court’s June 30, 1980 Final Order and Judgment and this court’s February 15, 1983 compliance schedule as both presently exist; and
B. which seeks to or has the effect of withdrawing grants or grant contracts for the project which is the subject matter of this litigation, or which seeks to rearrange grant priorities, demand an environmental impact statement, demand rebidding of the construction contracts, seeks to block site locations or seeks to block sewer use or sewer connection, other than as provided in the February 15, 1983 compliance schedule[ ].
The order further enjoined all parties

Question: What is the ideological directionality of the court of appeals decision?
A. conservative
B. liberal
C. mixed
D. not ascertained
Answer:

Answer: B