NPDES Permit Not Required For Discharges to Different Parts of Same Waterway

The Supreme Court held today in Los Angeles County Flood Control Dist. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., No. 11-460 (January 8, 2013), that the flow of water from an improved portion of a navigable waterway into an unimproved portion of the same waterway does not qualify as a “discharge of a pollutant” under the Clean Water Act. In doing so, the Supreme Court decision reaffirmed its prior decision in South Florida Water Management District v. Miccosukee Tribe of Indians, 541 U.S. 95 (2004), that the transfer of polluted water between two parts of the same water body does not constitute a discharge of pollutants under the Clean Water Act.

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