County of Maui v. Hawai’i Wildlife Fund, et al. (U.S. 18-260)
On July 19, 2019, the Emmett Environmental Law & Policy Clinic filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court urging the Court to affirm the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision holding the County of Maui liable under the Clean Water Act for point source discharges conveyed to navigable water through groundwater. The Clinic argued that the 9th Circuit’s decision was consistent with decades-long NPDES permitting practices that applied the Clean Water Act in this manner, and that reversing that decision would lead to inconsistencies in legal protections for surface waters.