ELR Citation: 51 ELR 20183
No(s). 19-35898, 19-35899, 20-35135, 20-35136, and 20-35137 (9th Cir. Oct 6, 2021)

The Ninth Circuit remanded a summary judgment order in a challenge to EPA's approval of Montana's variance request from approved water quality standards adopted under the CWA. An environmental group argued the Agency's approval of the variance violated the APA. A district court granted partial vacatur of the approval, finding the variance's term of up to 17 years was invalid because it neither required compliance with the highest attainable condition at the outset of the term nor required compliance with Montana's base quality water standards by the end of the term. The appellate court disagreed, finding EPA's variance regulation unambiguously provided that compliance with the highest attainable condition was not required at the outset and that such a framework was consistent with the goals of the CWA. It therefore remanded to the district court with instructions to deny the group's motion for summary judgment and to grant summary judgment for EPA in full.