Opinion ID: 3052091
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Chevron Step One: Congressional Intent

Text: [1] Because this case presents an issue of an agency’s statutory interpretation, Chevron applies. First, then, we must determine whether Congress, when it amended section 503(24) of the CWA, through section 323 of the Energy Policy Act, unambiguously intended to exempt from NPDES permitting requirements for oil and gas construction activities the discharge of storm water runoff contaminated solely with sediment. An examination of the statutory language and its legislative history assists us in this inquiry. See Defenders of Wildlife, 191 F.3d at 1164-65; see also American Mining Congress, 965 F.2d at 764-65. Section 402(l)(2) of the CWA provides as follows: The Administrator shall not require a permit under this section, nor shall the Administrator directly or indirectly require any State to require a permit, for discharges of stormwater runoff from mining operations or oil and gas exploration, production, processing, or treatment operations or transmission facilities, composed entirely of flows which are from conveyances or systems of conveyances (including but not limited to pipes, conduits, ditches, and channels) used for collecting and conveying precipitation NRDC v. USEPA 5969 runoff and which are not contaminated by contact with, or do not come into contact with, any overburden, raw material, intermediate products, finished product, byproduct, or waste products located on the site of such operations. 33 U.S.C. § 1342(l)(2) (emphasis added). Section 323 of the Energy Policy Act affected section 402(l)(2) of the CWA by adding construction activities to the definition of oil and gas exploration and production operations or facilities: (24) Oil and gas exploration and production: The term “oil and gas exploration, production, processing, or treatment operations or transmission facilities” means all field activities or operations associated with exploration, production, processing, or treatment operations, or transmission facilities, including activities necessary to prepare a site for drilling and for the movement and placement of drilling equipment, whether or not such field activities or operations may be considered to be construction activities. Pub. L. No. 109-58, § 323, 119 Stat. 694 (codified as amended at 33 U.S.C. § 1362(24)) (emphasis added). [2] The plain language of section 402(l)(2) of the CWA, as affected by the Energy Policy Act, does not indicate whether or not Congress intended that the NPDES permit exemption cover storm water discharges contaminated solely with sediment. Neither CWA section 402(l)(2) nor section 323 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 mention the term “sediment.” The statutory language of section 402(l)(2) merely indicates that oil and gas operations or facilities, which now include construction activities, are exempt from NPDES permitting 5970 NRDC v. USEPA requirements so long as the storm water runoff from those activities is not contaminated with, or does not come in contact with, certain statutorily undefined contaminants: overburden, raw material, intermediate products, finished product, byproduct, or waste products.14 Furthermore, even if we were to accept NRDC’s argument that sediment can be construed as a “waste product,” that term is still ambiguous in the context of gas and oil related construction activities. There is no single, plain meaning for this term.15 [3] Nor does the limited legislative history of CWA section 402(l)(2), both prior to and as amended by section 323 of the Energy Policy Act, indicate that Congress unambiguously intended to exempt (or not exempt) from NPDES permitting requirements discharges of storm water runoff contaminated solely with “sediment.” NRDC contends that, in passing section 402(l)(2) in 1987, Congress merely intended to avoid unnecessary administrative burdens without allowing any pollution. See 133 Cong. Rec. H168-03 (Jan. 8, 1987) (Section 402(l)(2) aims to avoid “unnecessary paperwork restrictions” 14 The CWA does not define the terms “raw material,” “intermediate products,” “finished product,” “byproduct,” or “waste products.” See 33 U.S.C. § 1362. “Overburden” has been defined by EPA as “any material of any nature, consolidated or unconsolidated, that overlies a mineral deposit, excluding topsoil or similar naturally-occurring surface materials that are not disturbed by mining operations.” 40 C.F.R. § 122.26(b)(10). 15 NRDC relies on N. Plains Res. Council v. Fidelity Exploration & Dev. Co., 325 F.3d 1155 (9th Cir. 2003) to support its argument that sediment is a “waste product” under section 402(l)(2) of the CWA. In Northern Plains, we held that the unaltered but “salty” groundwater produced in association with methane gas extraction and discharged into the river is a pollutant within the meaning of the CWA. Id. at 1163. We found that the “salty” groundwater is a “pollutant” under the CWA because it is “industrial waste.” Id. at 1160. In particular, we defined “waste” as “any useless or worthless byproduct of a process or the like; refuse or excess material.” Id. at 1161 (quoting American Heritage Dictionary (1979)). Accordingly, NRDC argues that sediment is essentially a useless or worthless byproduct of construction activities and is a contaminant—namely “waste product” — for purposes of the § 402(l)(2) permit exemption. NRDC v. USEPA 5971 while still keeping environmental protection “at a premium”) (statement of Rep. Hammerschmidt); 131 Cong. Rec. E347602 (July 22, 1985) (“[A]ny stormwater which has come into contact with any potential pollutant would not be eligible for the stormwater runoff exemption.”) (statement of Sen. Breaux). On the other hand, EPA asserts that the most relevant legislative history is that of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 because it was through that legislation that Congress enacted the amendment to the CWA that EPA codified in the final rule challenged here. EPA notes that several members of Congress indicated their intention to vote against the Energy Policy Act of 2005 in part because it exempted storm water discharges from oil and gas construction activities from regulation under the CWA. EPA suggests that such opposition confirms that Congress intended to exempt storm water discharges from oil and gas related construction activities, regardless of sediment’s impact on water quality. 151 Cong. Rec. S9262 (daily ed. July 28, 2005) (remarks of Sen. Kerry); id. at S9342 (daily ed. July 29, 2005) (remarks of Sen. Feinstein); id. at S9346 (remarks of Sen. Clinton); id. at S9346-47 (remarks of Sen. Jeffords ); id. at E1726 (remarks of Rep. Udall). EPA relies specifically on comments made by Senator Jeffords where he explained that storm water discharges typically contain “pollutants such as oil and grease, chemicals, nutrients, metals, bacteria, and particulates”—which EPA claims is synonymous with sediment—and that the amendment would roll back the then-existing requirement that construction activities larger than five acres at oil and gas sites must obtain NPDES permits. 151 Cong. Rec. S9347 (daily ed. July 29, 2005). [4] EPA’s multiple citations to the remarks of senators opposed to the Energy Policy Act are particularly unavailing. In the hierarchy of legislative history sources, statements by opponents are among the least authoritative, as they are meant to defeat the bill in question and do not “represent the considered and collective understanding of those Congressmen” 5972 NRDC v. USEPA who passed the bill into law. Zuber v. Allan, 396 U.S. 168, 186 (1969). Accordingly, using standard tools of statutory construction, we can not conclude that Congress, when it amended section 402(l)(2) of the CWA to expand the NPDES permitting exemption to construction activities, vis-a-vis Section 323 of the Energy Policy Act, unambiguously intended to exempt from NPDES permitting requirements discharges of storm water runoff contaminated solely with sediment. Because we conclude that Congress was silent on the issue, we move to Chevron step two.