Riverkeeper v. United States Environmental Protection Agency

JORDAN, Circuit Judge:

The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, a part of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq., is a “federal permit program designed to regulate the discharge of polluting effluents” into the Nation’s waters. Int’l Paper Co. v. Ouellette, 479 U.S. 481, 489, 107 S.Ct. 805, 93 L.Ed.2d 883 (1987). Upon request, the Environmental Protection Agency may transfer NPDES permitting authority to a state. See 33 U.S.C. § 1342. “If [this] authority is transferred, then state officials — not the federal EPA-have the primary responsibility for reviewing and approving…