Opinion ID: 754105
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Compliance with NPDES Permits

Text: 15 We review the district court's factual findings under the clear error standard. Tonry v. Security Experts, Inc., 20 F.3d 967, 970 (9th Cir.1994). The district court's adoption of much of the City's proposed findings does not alter this standard. See Saltarelli v. Bob Baker Group Med. Trust, 35 F.3d 382, 384 (9th Cir.1994); Hagans v. Andrus, 651 F.2d 622, 626 (9th Cir.1981). We review the district court's conclusions of law de novo. Northwest Envtl. Advocates v. City of Portland, 56 F.3d 979, 982 (9th Cir.1995), cert. denied, 518 U.S. 1018, 116 S.Ct. 2550, 135 L.Ed.2d 1069 (1996); Saltarelli, 35 F.3d at 385. The district court's interpretation of unambiguous terms of the NPDES permit is subject to de novo review. Where the terms of the permit are ambiguous and the district court looks to extrinsic evidence, such findings are reviewed for clear error. Northwest Envtl.Advocates, 56 F.3d at 982. We do not review issues raised only by an amicus curiae. Swan v. Peterson, 6 F.3d 1373, 1383 (9th Cir.1993). 1 16
17
18 Appellants contend that the City's method modifies the permit and violates the Clean Water Act. In its first Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, the district court found that neither the 1990 nor the 1995 NPDES permit specifies the manner in which compliance with the discharge requirements is to be calculated. This finding is not clearly erroneous. A review of both the 1990 and the 1995 permits indicates that they do not specify any manner in which the discharge requirements are to be calculated. This fact was confirmed by the testimony of the Executive Officer and was not contested by any other testimony. In fact, appellants' own expert testified that he had personally examined fifteen different methods for measuring compliance with the permits. 19 The district court did not err in finding that the procedure established by the Executive Officer, based on the seven-day averaging of each previous day's highest hourly flow as measured at the Hacienda Bridge, is reasonable. Tuck Vath, a staff member of the Regional Board, testified that the seven-day method is used in order to account for irregularities in the system. The Senior Engineer with the Regional Board, Mr. Tancreto, testified that the seven-day method was chosen because it was workable and was based on a short number of days, similar to the other time periods contained in the permit. Miles Ferris, the Director of Utilities Engineer for the City, testified that the seven-day averaging method was chosen after comparing numerous other methods. Mr. Ferris explained that he searched for methods that would approximate the real flows of the Russian River. He examined a whole batch of flows and attempted to predict them and the closest he came was by selecting the highest hour of the previous day. This method--which was incorporated into the seven-day averaging method--was the closest approximation to the actual flow of the Russian River. Mr. Ferris further testified that this method was the most logical method that people could understand. 20 The district court properly gave substantial deference to the Executive Officer's selection of the seven-day averaging method because it was a reasonable interpretation of the NPDES permit. Cf. Arkansas v. Oklahoma, 503 U.S. 91, 110, 112 S.Ct. 1046, 1058-59, 117 L.Ed.2d 239 (1992) (holding that substantial deference should be given to an agency's reasonable and consistently held interpretation of its own regulations). 21 The district court further found that no direct temporal correlation exists between the amount discharged and the flow of the river at the Hacienda Bridge as the discharge points are eight to twelve miles upstream from the Hacienda gauging station. It found that when the City operator sets the discharge rate each morning, the only information available to the operator is the previous day's flow measurements. These findings are not clearly erroneous. Messrs. Tancreto and Ferris testified that it can take up to several days for discharged water to reach the Hacienda Bridge. Mr. Ferris further testified that there is no direct relationship between the discharged amount and the flow of the Russian River at Hacienda Bridge. 22 Appellants contend that the City can determine the flow of the Russian River from the gauge at the Hacienda Bridge. However, the district court found that the gauge at the Hacienda Bridge only measures the height of the river. In order to calculate flow volume, the bottom contour of the river must be measured, which the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) does periodically. Such measurements are passed on after a delay to the City. Therefore, the district court found that the true flow at the Hacienda Bridge cannot be determined on a day-to-day basis. Messrs. Ferris and Tancreto both testified that the gauge at the Hacienda Bridge yields only elevation data and not accurate flow information. Mr. Ferris explained that in order to determine the true flow of the River, one needs stream gauge measurements from the USGS which measures the stream bottom periodically. Mr. Ferris further testified that the City only receives this information from the USGS after some delay. The district court's findings were not clearly erroneous. 23 Appellants contend that the seven-day averaging method is improper because it was never presented to the Regional Board. However, the district court further found that the seven-day averaging method was presented to the Regional Board during the 1995 permit hearings. This finding is not clearly erroneous. Mr. Vath testified that the method was discussed in the context of an attempt to move to a thirty-day averaging method. Ms. Adelman did not dispute that Mr. Vath explained the seven-day averaging method at a Regional Board meeting in 1995 which she attended. The transcripts of that meeting which Ms. Adelman read in court explicitly discuss the seven-day averaging method. 24 Appellants further contend that the City violated the permit by discharging in excess of one percent when the variance in the storage ponds was below the operations curve at the time of discharge. The district court found that variance above the operations curve is merely one of the factors to be considered by the Executive Officer in deciding whether or not to grant permission to the City to discharge in excess of one percent of the flow. Reviewing the NPDES permits de novo, we conclude that the district court was correct. Northwest Envtl. Advocates, 56 F.3d at 982 (district court's interpretation of NPDES permits reviewed de novo). Messrs. Kor and Vath testified that variance above the operations curve is one of the factors that they did consider in deciding whether or not to grant the City permission to discharge in excess of one percent of the flow. 25 In sum, appellants' argument boils down to their dissatisfaction with the method used by the City to calculate compliance with the NPDES permits. Appellants emphasize that the permits state, In no case shall any discharge of wastewater exceed five percent of the flow of the Russian River. They seek as close to real-time measurement of the discharge as possible. They prefer a daily monitoring system to the seven-day averaging method selected by the Executive Officer. Appellants successfully opposed the use of a different method at the hearings preceding adoption of the 1995 permit, but did not succeed in opposing the seven-day averaging method. Appellants' preference, however, is unsupported by any showing that the seven-day averaging method is improper. The district court's factual findings are supported by the evidence and are not clearly erroneous. 26
27 Appellants contend that the City failed to monitor final effluent chlorine and coliform organisms as required by the permits. The district court found that the permits require measurement of the numeric effluent limitations at the end of the chlorine contact chamber, and that the permits do not specify multiple tests at the end of each of the three chambers used at the Laguna Plant. Our review of the language of the NPDES permits indicates that the district court's findings are not clearly erroneous. 28 The finding that the sample taken at the end of one of the chlorine contact chambers is representative of all three chambers is not clearly erroneous. Mr. William Stinebaugh, the Deputy Director of Operations for the City, testified that he oversees the Laguna Plant and that there is no differential between taking samples at the end of one of the chambers compared to taking them at the end of all of the chambers. Mr. Adam Russell, the clerk technician with the City who actually takes the samples, testified that taking samples from one chamber is representative of all three. The district court therefore properly concluded that the grab samples for chlorine and coliform are properly taken at the end of one of the three chlorine contact chambers.
29 Appellants contend that the district court erred in concluding that California Water Code section 13223(a) grants the Executive Officer the authority to determine the method of compliance with the permit. They further contend that the Executive Officer's interpretation constituted de facto modifications of the permits in violation of the statute. 30 California Water Code section 13223(a) gives a Regional Board the authority to delegate any of its powers and duties, with limited exceptions, to its Executive Officer. 2 In this case, the Regional Board so delegated its authority. The Executive Officer routinely established the method for measuring compliance with NPDES permits including those at issue here. 31 There is no caselaw interpreting section 13223(a), but under federal law, the establishment of a method of compliance with an NPDES permit does not constitute a modification of the permit. Cf. Citizens for a Better Env't v. Union Oil Co., 83 F.3d 1111, 1119-20 (9th Cir.1996) (holding that the Regional Board's cease and desist order deferring compliance with a permit condition did not constitute a modification of the terms of the NPDES permit). We therefore conclude that the Executive Officer's adoption of a method of compliance was not a modification of the permit in violation of section 13223.
32 The Clean Water Act does not permit citizen suits for wholly past violations. Gwaltney of Smithfield, Ltd. v. Chesapeake Bay Found., Inc., 484 U.S. 49, 64, 108 S.Ct. 376, 385, 98 L.Ed.2d 306 (1987). To have standing under the Clean Water Act, appellants must prove the existence of ongoing violations or the reasonable likelihood of continuing future violations. Id. at 57, 108 S.Ct. at 381. The district court found that numerous allegations of violations could not be substantiated given the validity of the seven-day averaging method. The court did find seven coliform violations in 1992, one in 1994, and five in 1995. It also found six pH violations in 1992 and one in 1993. The district court correctly held that appellants did not prove the existence of ongoing violations or the reasonable likelihood of continuing future violations. The coliform violations resulted from changes in the treatment process requested by the Regional Board, faulty testing, out of service tanks, and a major flood. The pH violations that occurred would not have violated the 1995 permit. The 1995 permit lowered the minimum pH level from 6.5 to 6.0. Because the pH level has never fallen below 6.0, the likelihood of future violations is minimal. Under Gwaltney, appellants do not have standing under the Clean Water Act.