S. Cal. Edison Co. v. STATE WATER RES. CTRL. BD.

Southern California Edison Company and San Diego Gas and Electric Company (Company) object to waste discharge requirements imposed on their San Onofre nuclear generating station (Unit 1) [1] by the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board as confirmed by the State Water Resources Control Board (Board).

The permit (referred to as the Unit 1 permit or the permit) set specific standards for discharge of sanitary waste and circulating cooling water.

The trial court set aside the contested standards as violating both federal and state law, [2] and beyond the scope of the Board's authority. The matter was remanded to the Board because its findings are inadequate and not supported by the record.

One disputed limitation prescribes waste discharge requirements on a gross, rather than net, basis and the other sets discharge limitations for Company's private secondary sewage treatment plant at the same level as federal standards for municipal sewage treatment facilities.

The disputed issues are:

(1) May Board ever lawfully require Company to remove pollutants entering its generating station through its water intake valve, rather than regulating only those…