San Francisco Baykeeper v. EPA

EPA moved to voluntarily dismiss its appeal of a district court’s order that vacated a negative jurisdictional determination under the Clean Water Act for the Redwood City Salt Ponds along San Francisco Bay. The plaintiffs alleged that the negative jurisdictional determination would exacerbate the consequences of sea level rise and impair California’s ability to mitigate sea level rise impacts, though the district court’s decision did not address this issue, focusing instead on EPA’s determination that the salt ponds had been transformed into “fast land” prior to enactment of the Clean Water Act. The district court remanded the matter to EPA for evaluation of factors including the nexus between the salt ponds and the Bay and the extent to which the salt ponds “significantly affect the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Bay.”