New York's highest court has ruled that the state's regulation of municipal stormwater discharges does not violate the federal Clean Water Act, as environmental groups claimed in a lawsuit.
The Court of Appeals split 4-to-3 in the decision Tuesday that upholds the Department of Environmental Conservation's general permit for municipal separate storm sewer systems.
The Natural Resources Defense Council and other groups contend the state's rules are too lax, allowing polluted runoff to pour unabated into rivers, lakes and coastal waters from hundreds of municipalities.
Larry Levine, NRDC's lawyer on the case, said the group will continue to push for a stronger general permit in the upcoming renewal cycle. He said NRDC will also seek a federal court-ordered deadline for the Environmental Protection Agency to modernize federal stormwater regulations.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.
