Liability for stormwater discharges

摘要

In a case that is making several circuits through the federal judiciary, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has issued an opinion that may result in many small local governments with municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4) being forced to either cease discharging pollutants into those systems or obtain NPDES permits (NRDC v. Los Angeles County Flood Control District). MS4 pollutants are generated by stormwater running off streets, parking lots, commercial sites, and other developed parcels of land. Currently, elimination of pollutants from such surfaces is not economically or technically feasible virtually anywhere on earth. But with the 9th Circuit opinion, the prospect of tens of thousands of small governments being compelled into the NPDES permitting system and state environmental agencies being forced to shoulder a universe of new enforcement responsibilities is closer to reality.