The U.S. Supreme Court remanded two legal disputes over groundwater pollutants back to federal appeals courts for reconsideration based on its landmark April 23 decision that set a “functional equivalent” test for whether a discharge permit is needed under federal law when that pollution reaches U.S. protected waters indirectly.
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.