Waterkeepers Northern California v. AG Industrial Manufacturing Inc.Waterkeepers Northern California v. AG Industrial Manufacturing Inc.
Plаintiffs WaterKeepers Northern California and Bill Jennings (collectively, “WaterKeepers”) appeal the district court’s dismissal of their Clean Water Act suit for lack of jurisdiction. Defendants AG Industrial Manufacturing and Claude E. Brown (collectively, “AG Industrial”) cross-appeal the district court’s denial of their motion as prevailing parties for attorney’s fees. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we reverse the district court’s dismissal in part, affirm in part, and affirm the district court’s denial of аttorney’s fees.
I.
WaterKeepers Northern California is a non-profit corporation dedicated to protecting wildlife and preserving natural resources in the San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (“the Delta”). Bill Jennings is the director of Del-
On June 28, 2000, WaterKeepers sent AG Industrial notice of its intent to sue for violations of the Clean Water Act (“the Act”). More than sixty days later, Water-Keepers filed this suit, alleging numerous continuing or recurring violations of the Act at AG Industrial’s Lodi facility. The parties briefed the mеrits of WaterKeep-ers’ claims in the district court, and each side submitted a motion for summary judgment. Without reaching the merits, however, the district court concluded that the suit had to be dismissed because Wat-erKeepers’ intent-to sue letter provided insufficient notice of its claims. In a second order, the district court denied AG Industrial’s motion for prevailing party attorney’s fees. Although the district court found AG Industrial to be a prevailing party, it declined to award fees becausе it could not say that WaterKeepers’ claims were “frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation.” See Razore v. Tulalip Tribes,
We address the notice letter and attorney’s fees issues in turn, but we begin with an explanation of the relevant statutory and regulatory background.
II.
Congress enacted the Clean Water Act in 1972 in order to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters.” 33 U.S.C. § 1251; S. Flоrida Water Mgmt. Dist. v. Miccosukee Tribe of Indians, — U.S. ——, -,
Much of the responsibility for administering the NPDES permitting system has been delegated to the states. See 33 U.S.C. § 1342(b); see. also Cal. Water Code § 13370 (expressing California’s intent to implement its own NPDES permit program). States may issue individual permits to industrial dischargers or may cover many dischargers under the terms of one general permit. See 40 C.F.R. § 122.26(c); Envtl. Def. Ctr.,
The parties to this case agree that AG Industrial falls within an industrial classification under the Act and General Permit for which no specific pollutant effluent limitations have been set.
Private citizens may sue under the Clean Water Act to enforce the speсific provisions of California’s General Permit. 33 U.S.C. § 1365(a)(1), (f)(6); Russian River Watershed Prot. Comm. v. City of Santa Rosa,
III.
The Clean Water Act requires citizen plaintiffs to notify alleged violators of their intent to sue at least sixty days before filing a complaint. 33 U.S.C. § 1365(b)(1)(A). In our circuit, compliance with this notice provision is required for jurisdiction. See Natural Res. Def. Council v. Southwest Marine, Inc.,
sufficient information to permit the recipient to identify the specific stаndard, limitation, or order alleged to have been violated, the activity alleged to constitute a violation, ... [and] the date or dates of such violation.
40 C.F.R. § 135.3(a).
“The key language in the notice regulation is the phrase ‘sufficient information to permit the recipient to identify’ the alleged violations and bring itself into compliance.” Cmty.Ass’n for Restoration of the Env’t v. Henry Bosma Dairy,
A.
WaterKeepers sent AG Industrial a ten-page notice letter that is significantly longer and more detailed than the notice letter we held sufficient in Southwest Marine.
With respect to prevention and monitoring requirements, WaterKeepers’ letter states that AG Industrial has violated the General Permit by failing to develop and implement BMPs; by failing to implement an SWPPP; and by failing to implement a monitoring and reporting program. The letter describes these Permit requirements in detail and directs the rеader’s attention to the specific Permit sections that explain what is required.
B.
The district court ruled Water-Keepers’ notice letter inadequate solely on the basis of WaterKeepers’ allegation regarding storm-water discharges. The district court held that WaterKeepers did not provide enough specific information about the dates of alleged storm-water discharges. Having carefully reviewed Water-Keepers’ notice letter, we conclude that the district court’s ruling on this point cannot be squared with our recent decision in San Francisco BayKeeper.
San Francisco BayKeeper alleged in its notice letter that defendant Tosco Corp. illegally discharged petroleum coke “on each day when the wind [was] sufficiently strong to blow coke” from piles at Tosco’s facility into a nearby waterway. San Francisco BayKeeper,
The district court found it significant that WaterKeepers’ expert, Steven Bond, testified at deposition that storm water will not always be discharged from AG Industrial’s facility after a 0.1 inch rainfall; Bond stated that a 0.19 inсh standard would be more accurate. This testimony may be relevant to the merits of WaterKeepers’ claims, but we do not agree with the district court that it is relevant to the adequacy of WaterKeepers’ notice letter. Regardless of whether WaterKeepers is able to prove each claimed discharge, its intent-to-sue letter put AG Industrial on notice as to the violations that WaterKeepers would allege in its complaint. The statute and regulation require no more. See 33 U.S.C. § 1365(b)(1)(A) (explaining that notice must be given of “alleged” violations); 40 C.F.R. § 135.3(a) (same).
The district court found fault with the rainfall tables WaterKeepers attached to its notice letter. The court noted that the tables record rainfall at locations some distance from AG Industrial, that data is recorded as missing on many dates in one table, and that in some cases the two tables list different rainfall amounts for the same dates. Again, however, these facts are relevant to the merits, not to the adequacy of WaterKeepers’ notice letter. WaterKeepers was not required to include any rain tables under San Francisco Bay-Keeper, and, even if it had been, the tables it did send provide notice of several exact dates of alleged discharge violations.
C.
AG Industrial offers four alternate grounds for affirming the district court’s dismissal in whole or in part. First it argues that WaterKeepers’ intent-to-sue letter provided insufficient notice of the storm water stаndards, limitations, or orders allegedly violated. See 40 C.F.R. § 135.3(a). California’s General Permit prohibits storm water discharges that “cause or threaten to cause pollution, contamination, or nuisance,” General Permit at 4 ¶ A.2; that “adversely impact human health or the environment,” id. at 4¶ C.l; and that “contribute to an exceedance of any applicable water quality standards contained in a Statewide Water Quality Control Plan or the applicable Regional
We are not persuaded. WaterKeepers’ notice letter lists various contaminants believed to be at AG Industrial’s site,- explains how they are exposed to rainfall, and points to the specific provisions of the General Permit allegedly violated.
AG Industrial next challenges the sufficiency of WaterKeepers’ notice regarding non-storm water discharges. WaterKeep-ers’ intent-to-sue letter accuses AG Industrial of discharging contaminated non-storm water whenever it periodically washes down dirty areas of the facility or dirty machinery and equipment. “At these times,” according to the letter, “contaminants present in the area are carried off by the wash water and flushed into the storm sewer system.” WaterKeepers’ letter alleges violations of the Act “on each and every date on which [AG Industrial’s] facility has discharged contаminated wash water.”
We follow San Francisco BayKeeper in holding that these allegations are sufficient to satisfy the Act’s notice requirement. See San Francisco BayKeeper,
AG Industrial argues that the district court’s dismissal may be affirmed with respect to WaterKeepers’ prevention, monitoring and reporting claims because AG Industrial has now cured all alleged violations. See Gwaltney of Smithfield, Ltd. v. Chesapeake Bay Found., Inc.,
We considered a similar situation and rejected an argument nearly identical to AG Industrial’s in Southwest Marine:
If a defendant receives a proper notice letter alleging that it has failed to prepare and implement an adequate plan and, in response, prepares a new plan and begins to implement it before the complaint is filed, is the otherwise proper notice letter defective for failing to identify and discuss the new plan and its implementation? In those circumstances, must a citizen-plaintiff send a new notice letter? We think not. Subject matter jurisdiction is established by providing a notice that is adequate on the date it is given to the defendant.
Finally, AG Industrial relies on the Supreme Court’s decision in Gwaltney to argue that we may affirm dismissal because the еvidence the parties submitted on summary judgment proves that WaterKeepers did not file its complaint in “good faith.” See Gwaltney,
Gwaltney held that citizen plaintiffs may not sue to remedy “wholly past” violations of the Clean Water Act; the Act confers jurisdiction only over citizen suits that allege continuous or intermittent violations.
D.
Because it is clear under Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit precedent that the district court has jurisdiction over nearly all of WaterKeepers’ claims, we cannot say that AG Industrial is a prevailing party entitled to attorney’s fees under the Act. See Razore,
IV.
The district court must ultimately decide whether WaterKeepers’ evidence of continuous and ongoing violations is sufficient to survive summary judgment. On this appeal we hold only that the district court has jurisdiction to reach the merits of all but WaterKeepers’ industrial process water claim. ' Accordingly,' we ' reverse the district court’s dismissal in part, affirm as tо WaterKeepers’' process water claim, affirm the district court’s denial of attorney’s fees, and remand so that the district court may reach the merits. We decline Water-
Appellants are entitled to their costs.
REVERSED IN PART; AFFIRMED IN PART; AND REMANDED.
Notes
. BMPs are "schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to prevent or reduce the pollution of waters of the United States.” 40 C.F.R. § 122.2 (internal .quotation marks omitted). "BMPs also include treátment requirements, operating procedures, and practices to control plant site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from raw material storage.” Id. According to the General Permit, BMPs may be "structural” {e.g., roofing, berms, treatment facilities) or "non-stractural” {e.g., good housekeeping, preventive maintenance, training). See Natural Res. Def. Council v. Southwest Marine, Inc.,
. The district court believed San Francisco BayKeeper to be distinguishable because the piles of petroleum coke were "so readily identifiable” as the pollution source in that case and because "the nature of potential remedial actions to be taken аt the [AG Industrial] facility is by no means as clear.” We do not agree that San Francisco BayKeeper can be distinguished in this way.
Although no single source may be blamed for all of AG Industrial’s allegedly contaminated discharges, the company’s pollution problem is as easy to understand as Tosco's: AG Industrial’s site is allegedly littered with contaminants, and those contaminants are carried off the site when it rains. WaterKeep-ers' notice letter clearly identifies the sources of AG Industrial’s problem-debris, manufacturing materials and activities exposed to rainfall, and oil, grease and chemical stains throughout the facility. The letter also describes remedial steps AG Industrial could take.
As was the case in San Francisco BayKeeper, WaterKeepers provided notice "sufficiently specific to inform [AG Industrial] about what it is doing wrong.”
. We note that WaterKeepers submitted more complete rainfall data in support of its summary judgment motion, and that its supplemental data shows heavy rainfall on many of the same dates identified in WaterKeepers' original tables. WaterKeepers may pursue claims for the new dates included in its revised tables because the discharges alleged are all "from the same source” and "of the same nature.” Bosma Dairy,
. The General Permit is an "order” of the State Water Resources Control Board. See 40 C.F.R. § 135.3(a) (requiring notice that includes information sufficiently specific to allow the recipient to identify the "standard, limitation, or order” allegedly violated) (emphasis added).
. For similar reasons, we reject AG Industrial’s challenge to WaterKeepers’ reliance on EPA benchmark values. See Proposed Reis-suance of NPDES Storm Water Multi-Sector General Permit for Industrial Activities, 65 Fed.Reg. 171010, 17031 (proposed March 30, 2000) (setting out EPA benchmark values for certain contaminants). WaterKeepers points to the EPA benchmark values as evidence to support its claim that AG Industrial has failed to implement adequate BMPs. WaterKeepers satisfied the Act's notice requirement for this claim by specifically, referring to the General Permit’s BMP provisions in its notice letter.
. We note one exception to our general holding regarding non-storm water discharges. WaterKeepers’ complaint and summary judgment motion refer to manufacturing “process water” or "wastewater” that is discharged from AG Industrial’s facility. Because Water-Keepers’ notice letter does not refer to manufacturing process water or wastewater, we affirm dismissal with respect to this claim. We doubt that this hоlding will have a significant effect on proceedings below, however, because at oral argument plaintiffs’ counsel indicated that WaterKeepers intends to proceed only with those non-storm water claims specifically referred to in the notice letter— that is, non-storm water claims based on facility and equipment washing.
. WaterKeepers’ suit plainly passes this test— WaterKeepers' complaint alleges continuing and recurring violations of the Act.