No Permits Required For Channeled Stormwater Discharges From Logging Roads

Supreme Court ruling gives deference to EPA's interpretation of its own regulations.

On March 20, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the consolidated cases of Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center and Georgia-Pacific West, Inc. v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center,¹ holding that discharges of stormwater from logging roads are exempt from the Clean Water Act's (the Act's) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting scheme and giving deference to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) interpretation of its own regulations under Auer v. Robbins.² In reversing the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the Court found that EPA's interpretation of the Industrial Stormwater Rule was a permissible one, noting that it need not be the only or best interpretation to prevail.