Friends of the Everglades v. EPA (Eleventh Circuit; U.S. Supreme Court)

An “addition” of pollution from a “point source” to “the waters of the United States” must be permitted by EPA under the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System. In this case, EPA promulgated a rule declaring that a transfer of pollutants from one body of water to another body of water is not an “addition” of pollution and therefore does not require a permit. The Friends of the Everglades filed a petition challenging the so-called Water Transfers Rule in the Eleventh Circuit. On behalf of the United States Sugar Corporation, we intervened. The Eleventh Circuit held that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the petition for review under 33 U.S.C. § 1369(b)(1), concluding that any challenge to the rule had to be brought instead as a citizen suit in district court under 33 U.S.C. § 1365(a). Alongside the Solicitor General, we subsequently filed a petition for certiorari seeking review of that determination.