Opinion ID: 3052091
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: procedural posture & issues

Text: PRESENTED On June 23, 2006, NRDC petitioned this Court for direct review of EPA’s action pursuant to 33 U.S.C. § 1369(b)(1) and Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 15. Amigos Bravos, the Powder River, and OGAP were subsequently joined as petitioners, having timely filed their motions to intervene. On appeal, NRDC and the other petitioners contend that EPA’s final rule and regulation, which exempts from NPDES permitting the runoff of sediment-laden storm water from oil and gas construction activities, contravenes Congressional intent and constitutes an impermissible interpretation of section 402(l)(2) of the CWA, as amended by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. EPA claims that the practical effect of the amended statutory language is to exempt from NPDES permitting requirements the sediment-laden storm water runoff from construction activities and that EPA merely codified, at 40 C.F.R. § 122.26(a)(2)(ii), Congress’s unambiguous intent to specifically exclude such discharges from NPDES permitting requirements. Alternatively, EPA argues that even if Congressional intent on the issue is not clearly ascertainable, EPA’s interpretation of the statute that it administers is nonetheless reasonable and permissible. EPA asserts that it has no discretion to require a permit when storm water runoff is contaminated solely by sediment from oil and gas related construction activities because (1) sediment is the pollutant most closely associated with construction activities, and (2) Congress has prohibited EPA from requiring an NPDES storm water permit for discharges from construction activities at oil and gas sites unless the discharge is contaminated by at least one of a specific list of materials that does not include sediment. EPA does, however, concede that prior to the 2005 amendment to the CWA, if an oil and gas facility discharged storm water runoff contaminated only with sediment resulting in a water quality violation, that facility did not meet the conditions for 5966 NRDC v. USEPA permit exemption under 402(l)(2) and, thus, was required to apply for a permit.