Whether a state law that authorizes a polluter to discharge covered pollutants from a point source into the navigable waters of the United States without obtaining an NPDES permit and in concentrations that exceed effluent limits established by the Clean Water Act is preempted by the Clean Water Act and the Supremacy Clause, U.S. Const. art. VI, cl. 2

QUESTION PRESENTED The federal Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq., establishes a nationwide system of preventing, remedying, and controlling the pollution of our waterways. Among other things, the Act flatly prohibits the discharge of specified pollutants from point sources into the navigable waters of the United States unless the discharge is authorized under the Act. The principal means of authorizing such a discharge is by issuing a permit pursuant to the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). 33 U.S.C. § 1342. Such an “NPDES permit,” inter alia, sets limits on the amount of pollutants that may be discharged and imposes monitoring and reporting requirements. 33 U.S.C. § 1342(b). Nearly all States implement the NPDES program within their borders pursuant to a delegation of authority under the Clean Water Act. The question presented is: Whether a state law that authorizes a polluter to discharge covered pollutants from a point source into the navigable waters of the United States without obtaining an NPDES permit and in concentrations that exceed effluent limits established by the Clean Water Act is preempted by the Clean Water Act and the Supremacy Clause, U.S. Const. art. VI, cl. 2.