CWA Violations Can Be Enjoined Even Where A Subsequent Permit Contains More Lenient Terms

In the long-running Clean Water Act citizens' suit against the Los Angeles County Flood Control District, NRDC v. Los Angeles County Flood Control District, 9th Cir. October 31, 2016, a unanimous panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that injunctive relief against violations of a Clean Water Act permit can be based on past permit violations even though the permit that is the subject of the litigation has been amended with more lenient provisions that make continuing violations unlikely. The case addresses NRDC's efforts to impose strict stormwater controls in Los Angeles County. It first made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2012, when the Court ruled that transfers of water from the storm sewer to a channelized portion of the Los Angeles River were not "discharges" to surface waters under the CWA.