Opinion ID: 3007001
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Water Quality‐Based Effluent Limits

Text: If the TBELs are insufficient to attain or maintain water quality standards, the CWA requires NPDES permits to include additional water quality‐based effluent limits (ʺWQBELsʺ). See 33 U.S.C. §§ 1311(b)(1)(C), 1312(a); NRDC, 822 F.2d at 110 (ʺWhenever a technology‐based effluent limitation is insufficient to make a particular body of water fit for the uses for which it is needed, the EPA is to devise a water‐quality based limitation that will be sufficient to the task.ʺ). WQBELs are designed to ensure that the discharges authorized by the permit do not violate water quality standards. See 33 U.S.C. §§ 1313, 1342(a)(2). The WQBELs, which supplement the TBELs, are based on the amount and kind of pollutants in the water. See id. § 1312(a). WQBELs are set without regard to cost or technology availability. See NRDC v. EPA, 859 F.2d 156, 208 (D.C. Cir. 1988) (ʺA technology‐based standard discards its fundamental premise when it ignores the limits inherent in the technology. By contrast, a water quality‐based permit limit begins with the premise that a certain level of water quality will be maintained, come what may, and places upon the permittee the responsibility for realizing that goal.ʺ (footnote omitted)). WQBELs may be ‐13‐ narrative where the calculation of numeric limits is ʺinfeasible.ʺ See 40 C.F.R. § 122.44(k)(3). No permit may be issued when ʺthe imposition of conditions cannot ensure compliance with the applicable water quality requirements of all affected States.ʺ Id. § 122.4(d). Thus, permits must establish limits on discharges that will lead to compliance with water quality standards. See Trs. for Alaska v. EPA, 749 F.2d 549, 556‐57 (9th Cir. 1984) (holding that permit must translate state water quality standards into end‐of‐pipe effluent limitations necessary to achieve those standards). Because no states have established numeric water quality criteria for invasive species, EPA is required to establish WQBELs that ensure compliance with narrative criteria, designated uses, and antidegradation policies that comprise state water quality standards. The permit may then mandate ʺbest management practicesʺ (ʺBMPsʺ) to control pollution. See 40 C.F.R. § 122.44(k)(3).