The U.S. Supreme Court announced in late June that it will review the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision ruling that logging roads and their storm water runoff are “point sources” of water pollution requiring special permits.
Prior to the SCOTUS announcement, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a Notice of Intent (NOI) to revise their storm water regulations to specify these permits are not required, and to seek comments on approaches for addressing water quality impacts from forest road discharge.
While the NOI maintains the EPA’s long-standing interpretation that “best management practices” are the best way to manage water quality and forest road systems, the Ninth Circuit’s decision that forest roads are point sources stands, and has the potential to go into effect. Doing so would create regulatory uncertainty and place significant regulatory burdens on an already struggling forest products industry, and open the door for lawsuits to stop harvesting operations on both private and public lands.
