Whether Section 505 of the Clean Water Act authorizes citizens to invoke federal courts to enforce conditions of state-issued pollutant-discharge permits adopted under state law that mandate a greater scope of coverage than required by the CWA

QUESTION PRESENTED Section 505 of the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) grants federal courts jurisdiction over citizen suits enforcing “a permit or condition of a permit” if it is “issued under” Section 402 of the CWA. 33 U.S.C. § 1365(a), (f). Section 402 of the CWA establishes the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”), a federal permitting regime that governs the discharge of pollutants from point sources into navigable waters. Id. § 1342. The State of Washington, like many States, issues general pollutant-discharge permits that regulate broad sectors of the economy. These permits frequently combine federal requirements for point sources subject to the CWA with additional requirements authorized by state law. Below, the Ninth Circuit held that Section 505 authorizes citizens to enforce in federal court any condition of Washington’s combined permit for discharges, even those adopted under state-law authority that mandate “a greater scope of coverage” than the CWA. App.18a (citation omitted). As the Ninth Circuit acknowledged, that rule “directly conflicts with” Second Circuit precedent on the authority conferred by the CWA’s citizen-suit provision. App.18a, 19a (citation omitted). The question presented is: Whether Section 505 of the CWA authorizes citizens to invoke the federal courts to enforce conditions of state-issued pollutant-discharge permits adopted under state law that mandate a greater scope of coverage than required by the CWA.