美国最高法院根据其具有里程碑意义的4月23日的裁决，将两项关于地下水污染物的法律纠纷还给联邦上诉法院进行重新审议，该决定为是否需要根据联邦法律到达美国保护水域时是否需要释放许可证的“功能同等”测试间接。
But with many permitting details not well understood, sources say jurists, industry dischargers and regulators are unsure how to insure compliance with drastically reset U.S. Clean Water Act rules that will now apply to groundwater-carried pollution from wastewater plants, pipeline spills and leaking coal-ash poinds, among other sources.
“高等法院认识到没有明确的线条或明确的考验，下级法院可能必须考虑其他因素，”拒绝透露姓名的能源贸易集团律师告诉ENR。新利luck“这表明将还有其他诉讼来弄清楚它。”
高等法院决定将涉及摩根摩根石油管道中大约370,000加仑的2014年意外汽油泄漏的案件。
Pollutants reached a South Carolina creek immediately, but also traveled through groundwater to tributaries of the Savannah River years after the breach was repaired. The Richmond appeals court must reconsider its ruling against the oil company in light of the new Supreme Court standard and determine if Kinder Morgan faces penalties and more cleanup.
第二个还押的案件引发了斯蒂芬·布雷耶大法官所撰写的裁决，其中涉及在夏威夷的部分处理的废水，该废水通过地下水迁移到太平洋，据信受到了伤害的珊瑚。
The Richmond court’s “application of the relatively undefined ‘functional equivalent’ standard will create important precedent in how it will be interpreted and applied to pipelines specifically,” said attorneys from law firm Troutman Sanders LLP in a May 8 analysis.
This could affect how pipeline operators “manage impacts from or related to pipeline construction projects, ongoing maintenance and releases.” The standard also is likely to affect power plant coal ash containments.
行业观察家说，最终的问题是，何时需要何时出院许可证，以避免违反清洁水法。高等法院承认，它没有做出明确的决定。能源集团律师说，美国环境保护署在该问题上持有其指导，等待这一决定，但现在将“有助于更加清晰”。
夏威夷毛伊县，每天通过注入井每天将约400万加仑的部分处理的废水泵入地面。美国政府去年辩称，释放到地下水的污染物被排除在允许之外。但是布雷耶说，解释将打开漏洞，从而轻松逃避清洁水法的目的。
The U.S. appellate court in San Francisco had earlier ruled that a permit is needed when pollutants are “fairly traceable” from the point source to protected waters. But Breyer also said that test was too broad, ruling that a permit isneeded only when there is a “functional equivalent” of a direct discharge.
Now the appeals court must revisit the case using the new test.
The National Association of Clean Water Agencies says what will be key in permitting decisions are pollutants’ transit time and distance traveled before reaching a protected water body, with other factors including the material through which traveled, extent of dilution in transit and amount of pollution entering the water relative to the amount leaving the point source.
NACWA不会对新测试对废水工厂运营的影响发表评论。
金德·摩根said in a statement that it has committed to a “thorough and complete” remediation of the spill site, so far spending nearly $12 million. Frank Holleman, attorney for the environmental group plaintiffs, told ENR that they want interception wells installed to stop contaminant plumes. “There are still hundreds of gallons of raw gasoline making their way to the stream,” he said.
The Supreme Court’s Maui County decision has tremendous broad implications, said Holleman. The decision also dismissed the argument made by some that as long as the point source is any distance from protected waters, the Clean Water Act does not apply, he said.
