Opinion ID: 382652
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Maryland's Issuance of the NPDES Permit

Text: 39 Congress did not explicitly provide a federal cause of action to persons seeking review of state decisions on NPDES applications. The District nonetheless claims that it has a federal cause of action implicit in the statutory scheme. The Maryland defendants, on the other hand, contend that federal law does not create such a cause of action and that the District is relegated to whatever rights and remedies may be available under Maryland law. 40 A cause of action may exist where the federal statute does not explicitly provide one. See, e. g., J. I. Case Co. v. Borak, 377 U.S. 426, 84 S.Ct. 1555, 12 L.Ed.2d 423 (1964). A court must look to Congress's intent when enacting the federal statute to determine whether a corresponding federal right of action is created. See Cannon v. University of Chicago, 441 U.S. 677, 688, 99 S.Ct. 1946, 1953, 60 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); Cort v. Ash, 422 U.S. 66, 95 S.Ct. 2080, 45 L.Ed.2d 26 (1975). In determining whether a private right of action exists, a court must consider four questions: (1) Is the plaintiff a member of the special class for whom the statute was created? (2) Is there evidence of legislative intent to confer or deny a right? (3) Is it consistent with the purpose of the legislative scheme to imply the right? (4) Is the subject matter an area traditionally relegated to state law, so that a cause of action based solely on federal law would be inappropriate? Id. at 78, 95 S.Ct. at 2088. 41 Having considered these factors, we believe a federal right of action is not implicit in the Clean Water Act. The District is a member of the general class designed to be protected by the Act. The Act's structure and legislative history, however, argue strongly against implying a federal cause of action. 15 In authorizing the creation of state NPDES permit programs, Congress made clear that state permits would be issued under State law (and) would be State, not Federal, actions .... 118 Cong.Rec. 33761 (1972), reprinted in 1 Legislative History at 262 (remarks of Rep. Wright). Before granting a state authority to issue these permits, Congress requires the state to create adequate enforcement mechanisms for administering its program. 33 U.S.C. § 1342(b). A state can qualify to establish and administer under State law its own NPDES program only if the state attorney general submits a statement that the laws of such State . . . provide adequate authority to carry out the program. Id. 16 Among other requirements, 17 the state must have sufficient authority (t)o abate violations of the permit or the permit program, including civil and criminal penalties and other ways and means of enforcement. Id. § 1342(b)(7). By requiring states to maintain or create sufficient legal and equitable rights and remedies to deal with violations of state permits in order to exercise permit-granting powers under the Act, Congress must have intended that states apply their own law in deciding controversies involving state permits. 42 Given the existence of adequate state remedies and the strong current of federalism in the Clean Water Act, we believe we should not infer a federal right of action in this case. The state courts are the proper forums for resolving questions about state NPDES permits, which are, after all, questions of state law. We therefore remand this case to the district court with instructions to dismiss the complaint insofar as it deals with Maryland's issuance of an NPDES permit for the Rock Creek plant.III. FEDERAL COMMON LAW OF NUISANCE 43 The District also contends that the Maryland defendants are violating the federal common law of nuisance by discharging effluent into Rock Creek. In Illinois v. City of Milwaukee, 406 U.S. 91, 92 S.Ct. 1385, 31 L.Ed.2d 712 (1972), the Supreme Court recognized such a cause of action for states 18 injured by pollution of interstate or navigable waters. The Court concluded that such pollution presented a general federal question, with the action cognizable under federal common law in federal district court under 28 U.S.C. § 1331 (1976). 19 To be entitled to equitable relief, the complainant must demonstrate that the defendant is carrying on an activity that is causing an injury or significant threat of injury to some cognizable interest of the complainant. Illinois v. City of Milwaukee, 599 F.2d 151, 165 (7th Cir. 1979). The District has failed to make such a showing and therefore is not entitled to equitable relief. 44 The district court in its opinion held that the District had failed to demonstrate any harm from the operation of the plant. We believe this finding is clearly supported in the record. The District did not have reliable data documenting the impact of the discharge of effluent by the plant on the quality of water in Rock Creek; in fact, the District's data on water quality came entirely from tests taken before the plant began operations. J.A. at 332-33. Furthermore, the available data were inconclusive. The parties disagreed on the proper level of dissolved oxygen to use in the Streeter-Phelps formula, which measures biochemical oxygen demand of a waterway, and the District presented no evidence on the recovery of the creek's oxygen levels in the twelve miles from point of discharge to the District's border. 45 Many variables affect a stream's water quality, for example, the natural aeration of the stream, its confluence with tributaries, the seasons, and the urban or rural setting of the stream. The District did not account for many of these variables in presenting its evidence to the district court. If the District had shown that the plant is injuring Rock Creek, it would have been entitled to some form of relief. On the present record, however, the district court properly concluded that the District had not demonstrated harm to Rock Creek. 20