Court Opinion

ID: 8408248
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-11-02 16:41:23.476016+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T16:46:41.224751
License: Public Domain

TALLMAN, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I concur in most of the majority’s opinion, but I dissent from Section II.B, which remands the Phase II Rule because its system of general permits is “arbitrary and capricious.” I believe EPA’s design of a system of general permits supported by notices of intent was a reasonable exercise of EPA’s administrative discretion. We must give deference to EPA’s interpretation of the laws it is charged with enforcing, so long as EPA’s reading of those laws is permissible. Because EPA acted reasonably in designing a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) based on general permits and supported by NOIs, I respectfully dissent from the court’s decision to remand this portion of the Phase II Rule.
I
As the majority concedes, we evaluate EPA’s interpretation of the Clean Water Act with deference. Majority Op. 13796. If Congress’s intent is unclear as to whether a system of general permits supplemented by NOIs is allowed, we simply ask “whether EPA’s interpretation is permissible.” Ober v. Whitman, 243 F.3d 1190, 1193 (9th Cir.2001).
II
As an initial matter, then, we must ask if Congress was clear in its intent concerning the propriety of a system of general permits augmented by NOIs.
Five legislative commands guide this inquiry. First, 33 U.S.C. § 1342(p)(6) charges EPA with creating a system to regulate stormwater discharges. Plainly, nothing in this section speaks to whether EPA may utilize a general permit approach in regulating stormwater discharge.
Second, 33 U.S.C. § 1311(a) makes it illegal to discharge pollutants “except as in compliance” with several sections of the Clean Water Act. Again, nothing in this section addresses whether EPA may make use of general permits reinforced by NOIs.
Third, 33 U.S.C. § 1342 in general (as opposed to the limited charge in section 1342(p)(6) discussed above) authorizes EPA to issue NPDES permits, provided that the permits satisfy several conditions. But nothing in section 1342 prohibits the use of a system of general permits.
Fourth, the Clean Water Act mandates that “a copy of each permit application and each permit issued under” the NPDES permitting program be made available to the public for inspection and photocopying. 33 U.S.C. § 1342®. The Act does not elaborate on this naked requirement. There is no explanation of the manner in which NPDES permits and applications are to be made publicly available. Nor does the Act define what constitutes a “permit” that would trigger these requirements.
And fifth, the Clean Water Act authorizes the issuance of an NPDES “permit” “after opportunity for public hearing.” 33 U.S.C. § 1342(a)(1). The Act does not provide a definition of “permit,” nor does it further detail what triggers the requirement of a public hearing.
In short, the Clean Water Act fails to address the propriety of a general permit system, or whether NOIs ought to be considered “permits.” Therefore, we should uphold EPA’s creation of a system of general permits buttressed by NOIs so long as it is “permissible.” See Chevron, U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, 467 U.S. 837, 843-44, 104 S.Ct. 2778, 81 *881L.Ed.2d 694 (1984). Our duty to defer to EPA in such a situation is based on sound policy. Given the overwhelming challenge and complexity of the programs administered by federal agencies today, it is sensible to trust agencies with the design of those programs so long as the programs are reasonable interpretations of congressional mandates.
The central issues regarding EPA’s general permit system are whether the Clean Water Act allows such a system and whether NOIs should be considered “permits.” The resolution of these issues requires a complicated weighing of policies (e.g., administrative streamlining vs. robust inquiry) that is precisely what agencies are designed to do and courts are without the resources or expertise to do. “[I]f the statute is silent or ambiguous with respect to the specific issue, the question for the court is whether the agency’s answer is based on a permissible construction.” Chevron, 467 U.S. at 843, 104 S.Ct. 2778.
Ill
The Phase II Rule promulgates a system of general permits. EPA contemplated that these general permits will be issued on a watershed basis, with individual stormwater dischargers then filing NOIs to operate under general permits. The federal regulations implementing this system repeatedly emphasize that “[t]he use of general permits, instead of individual permits, reduces the administrative burden of permitting authorities, while also limiting the paperwork burden on regulated parties.” 64 Fed. Reg. 68,722, 68,737, 68,-762 (Dec. 8, 1999).
The use of a general permit system for the administration of the NPDES system has been considered and approved before. In NRDC v. Costle, 568 F.2d 1369 (D.C.Cir.1977), the District of Columbia Circuit considered a challenge to EPA’s regulations under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, which was the precursor to the Clean Water Act. In Costle, EPA sought approval of its design for the NPDES system. EPA had issued regulations exempting broad categories of point sources from the requirement that an NPDES permit be obtained before discharging into federal waters. Part of EPA’s rationale in creating the exempted categories was that otherwise EPA would be overwhelmed by the administrative burden of issuing NPDES permits. Id. at 1377-79. The Costle court affirmed the lower court’s rejection of these exemptions because the legislation in question plainly required that all point sources obtain some kind of NPDES permit. Id. But in rejecting EPA’s regulations, the Costle court discussed the options available to EPA in promulgating an NPDES system that was considerate of the enormous burden such a system could impose on EPA. Id. at 1380-81. In particular, the court recommended “the use of area or general permits. The Act allows such techniques. Area-wide regulation is one well-established means of coping with administrative exigency.” Id. at 1381 (emphasis added).
Against this backdrop, EPA’s creation of a general permit system was entirely permissible. And if the creation of a general permit system is permissible, then it does not matter whether NOIs are given a public airing.
The majority contends that the general permit system prevents EPA from fulfilling its duty to make sure that municipalities do not discharge pollutants in violation of the Clean Water Act. The majority reasons that by failing to require EPA review of NOIs, the Rule fails to ensure that a regulated MS4’s stormwater pollution control program will satisfy the Clean Water Act requirement that the MS4 “re*882duce discharges to the maximum extent practicable.” Majority Op. 855. But the majority’s analysis ignores the effects of the general permit. By filing an NOI, a discharger obligates itself to comply with the limitations and controls imposed by the general permit under which it intends to operate. EPA mandates that all permits (including general permits) condition their issuance on satisfaction of pollution limitations imposed by the Clean Water Act. 40 C.F.R. § 122.44. In particular, EPA requires permits to satisfy the restrictions imposed by Clean Water Act section 307(a). Id. at § 122.44(b)(1). Therefore, the general permit imposes the obligations with which the discharger must comply (including applicable Clean Water Act standards), and EPA’s decision not to review every NOI is not a failure to insure compliance with the Clean Water Act.
The majority also objects to EPA’s general permit system because it fails to allow for sufficient public participation in the NOIs. Majority Op. 856-858. The majority’s position fails to give deference to EPA and imposes the majority’s own wishes instead. EPA would have been justified in creating a system entirely reliant on general or area permits. Its imposition of NOIs is an indulgence to certain policy prerogatives, namely public involvement and the collection of additional information. But the power to create a general permit system necessarily implies the power to require subordinate steps for NOIs that do not quite reach the level of inquiry associated with actual permits.
IV
We function as an adjudicator of disputes, not as a policy-making body. Where an agency promulgates rules after a deliberative process, it is incumbent upon us to respect the agency’s decisions or else risk trivializing the function of that agency. In this case, EPA made a permissible decision to create a general permit program supported by NOIs. Therefore, I respectfully dissent from Section II.B of the majority’s opinion.