Freedom Smith Quoted in Indiana Lawyer: "SCOTUS to Determine When Permits Are Necessary to Pollute Navigable Waters"

Ice Miller LLP partner Freedom Smith was quoted in the Indiana Lawyer article, "SCOTUS to Determine When Permits Are Necessary to Pollute Navigable Waters."

The article included:

The Clean Water Act defines a “point source” as “any discernible, confined and discrete conveyance … from which pollutants are or may be discharged.” That can be a discharge source such as a pipe or a well, said Freedom Smith, a partner in Ice Miller LLP’s environmental group. Under the Clean Water Act, polluters who release contaminants via point sources must first obtain an NPDES permit.

Nonpoint sources, on the other hand, are regulated through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s oversight of state management and other non-Clean Water Act programs. Smith gave the example of a farm covered in fertilizer — when it rains, the fertilizer will be washed away and find its way into navigable waters. But because rain is not a “discernible, confined and discrete conveyance,” farmers are not subject to the Clean Water Act’s permit requirement, she said.

Click here to read the full article.