Judge Grants POTWs' Bid To Rehear Suit Over EPA Water Permitting Memos

摘要

A federal district judge has granted a request from California publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) to rehear a ruling rejecting review of EPA memos the POTWs claimed mandated strict new Clean Water Act (CWA) permit testing procedures, saying the case might not be moot despite the, agency withdrawing the contested letters. Nevertheless, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California Chief Judge Morrison C. England Jr.'s Sept. 15 order granting reconsideration of the decision stops short of reinstating a proceeding on the merits. The order does not completely vacate the original ruling. Instead it seeks further briefing on whether internal memos by California regulators truly show that the EPA memos are still having a practical effect as the utilities claim. "Under the circumstances, the Court concludes that additional briefing should be permitted to further illuminate the impact, if any, that the new evidence identified by Plaintiffs has in this matter," England says.