226. In Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center, where an environmental group sued the EPA and
other parties because logging companies were not required to have pollution discharge permits for rain runoff on
logging roads. The appeals court held that the rain runoff was associated with industrial activity, so discharge
permits were required. The Supreme Court held that:
a. under federal law, runoff from any kind of road is not a pollutant that required a permit
b. EPA‘s interpretation of the relevant statute concerning water pollution was reasonable so discharge
permits were not to be imposed
c. EPA‘s interpretation of the relevant statute concerning water pollution was arbitrary and capricious so
discharge permits would be required
d. discharge permits were not necessary as EPA asserted, but the logging endangered the spotted owl, so
greater regulatory oversight was required of logging operations
e. there was no violation of the Clean Water Act because it only applies to emissions from industrial facilities
such as factories, not trucks on a road
227. In Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center, where an environmental group sued the EPA and
other parties because logging companies were not required to have pollution discharge permits for rain runoff on
logging roads. The appeals court held that the rain runoff was associated with industrial activity, so discharge
permits were required. The Supreme Court held that:
a. EPA‘s interpretation of the relevant statute concerning water pollution was arbitrary and capricious so
discharge permits would be required
b. discharge permits were not necessary as EPA asserted, but the logging endangered the spotted owl, so
greater regulatory oversight was required of logging operations
c. there was no violation of the Clean Water Act because it only applies to emissions from industrial facilities
such as factories, not trucks on a road
d. there was no violation of the Clean Water Act
e. there was no violation of the Clean Water Act, but there was a possible violation of the Endangered
Species Act