Natural Resources Defense, Council, Inc. v. Train

No. 74-1433 (D.C. Cir. March 10, 1975)

The court modifies its earlier opinion, 5 ELR 20046, to make clear that it did not rule on the propriety of the EPA Administrator's regulations implementing §§ 301 and 304 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, or on the validity of the form or content of any particular effluent guidelines or limitations already promulgated by the agency.

Counsel are listed at 5 ELR 20046.

Leventhal, Robb and Nichols,^* JJ.

[5 ELR 20696]

Per curiam:

On consideration of the American Petroleum Institute and Eleven Member Companies' suggestion for clarification or modification of the Court's December 5, 1974, opinion and of the subsequent pleadings filed with respect thereto, it is

ORDERED by the Court that the aforesaid suggestion for clarification or modification of the Court's December 5, 1974, opinion is granted and that the following paragraphs are hereby added to note 101 on page 35 of the December 5 slip opinion:

Our discussion of EPA's present practice is intended merely to illustrate the role played by the section 304(b) guidelines in achieving the statutory goal of uniform effluent limitations for "similar point sources with similar characteristics." See note 99 and accompanying text supra. We do not rule on the propriety of the Administrator's regulations implementing sections 301 and 304 or on the validity of the form, format, or content of any particular effluent guidelines or limitations previously promulgated by EPA. Such matters involve questions that go beyond our present focus on the time limits contemplated by the Act for publication of section 304(b)(1)(A) effluent limitation guidelines.

The foregoing paragraph was added to our opinion, by amendment of March 10, 1975, in response to a motion filed by amicus curiae, American Petroleum Institute et al., to avoid any possible misinterpretation of the scope of our ruling.

* Sitting by designation pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 293(a).