County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund (18-260)
argument 18-260County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund
Supreme Court of the United States
1h 2m
6 speakers
8 chapters
transcribed 7 days ago
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Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
What is the central legal question about point‑source permits in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund?
We'll hear argument first this morning in case eighteen two hundred and sixty, the county of Maui versus the Hawaii Wildlife Fund. Mr Lin.
Mr Chief Justice, and may it please the court. This case is not about whether the releases from Maui's underground injection wells should be regulated at all. But how? They are already regulated under several existing state and federal environmental programs, including the Clean Water Act's non point source program. But is a Clean Water Act point source permit also required? The question is where the line falls between the Clean Water Act's federal point source program and its state law non point source program. The answer is in the text. The text defines a point source as a discernible, confined, and discrete conveyance, and it thereby makes clear that the trigger for point source permitting is not where a pollutant comes from.
but how it reaches navigable waters. An NPDS permit is thus required only when a point source or series of point sources is the means of delivering pollutants to navigable waters. This understanding is confirmed by the fact that it offers the predictability one would expect in a permitting regime, where regulated entities need to know beforehand whether a permit is required and where in this particular statute penalties for non compliance are so severe. It also maintains an important role for state non point source programs under the Clean Water Act. Respondents, however, Would rewrite the statute to all but eviscerate the line between point and non point source pollution and radically change the status quo.
In this case,
How does the Court define a “point source” under the Clean Water Act?
They would impose a new federal permit on wells that have operated the same way for forty years, during which time EPA expressly rejected calls for NPDS permitting. There are more than five hundred thousand similar underground injection wells in the country and nearly six thousand in Hawaii alone. This expansion of the non point service programme and diminution of the Excuse me, this expansion of the point source program and diminution of the non-point source program is not warranted by the text, as is underscored by the fact that respondents now offer the fourth different reading of the statute to support liability in this case.
Counsel, I I want to make sure I understand what your test is. You say that the uh uh it has to be the means it I guess the point source has to be the means of conveyance. to the jurisdictional water? Yes, Your Honor. Well what does that mean? That if it ever runs into groundwater. It is not the means of conveyance, but the groundwater is.
Uh that's correct, Your Honor. The it w w what we mean by means convey of conveyance is that the point source, the discernible, confined, and discrete conveyance, must carry and deliver the pollutant to the navigable waters.
So the So any intervention of groundwater uh uh removes the jurisdiction of the point source programme.
That's right, because groundwater is a non point source. And if the groundwater is uh in this case is diffusely flowing through the ground and that's what carries the pollutants to the navigable waters.
So it would seem that that should be the object of regulation and it is a conveyance. It is one Two conveyances in this case. But it is a means of delivering. All those things. Ground water. is also a means of delivery.
Yes, Your Honor. The the wells are a point source and we don't dispute that it is a discernible, confined, and discrete conveyance, but not all point sources require point source permits. If that were the case uh as respondents suggest, there would be very, very little, if anything, left for a non point source regulation. And so our contention, Your Honor, is that if you read the statutory text and considering the words addition from any point source that that contemplates that the point source must be The thing or point sources must together as one functional point source must be what actually delivers the pollutants to the necessary. So if
So if you have a point source under pressure that You know, just that doesn't seep out but kind of shoots the pollutants out.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the central legal question about point‑source permits in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund?
0:00–1:43
2
How does the Court define a “point source” under the Clean Water Act?
1:43–6:39
3
Why do the parties argue that groundwater should (or should not) be considered a point‑source conveyance?
6:39–12:51
4
What is the proposed “functional equivalent” test for determining permit liability?
12:51–20:17
5
How do traceability and approximate cause factor into the Court’s analysis?
20:17–26:48
6
What real‑world examples (septic tanks, injection wells, wastewater plants) illustrate the dispute?
26:48–34:16
7
How do statutory structure, context, and legislative history guide the Court’s interpretation?
34:16–41:48
8
What are the potential implications of the Court’s decision for future Clean Water Act permitting?
41:48–1:02:36