ELR Citation: 52 ELR 20045
No(s). 19-16711 (9th Cir. Apr 8, 2022)

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court's denial of summary judgment for environmental groups in a challenge to the Forest Service's allowance of livestock grazing in the Stanislaus National Forest. The groups argued the grazing led to fecal matter runoff that polluted streams in the area, impairing their members' ability to recreate in the forest, and that the Forest Service violated the CWA by failing to comply with requirements under California's Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act and by authorizing grazing that led to fecal coliform levels in local waterways in excess of relevant water quality objectives in the Central Valley Regional Board’s Basin Plan. The court found the groups failed to show the Service violated the reporting and permitting requirements under the Porter-Cologne Act or any prohibition contained within the basin plan. It affirmed the district court's denial of summary judgment.