Supreme Court
Save Our Springs All., Inc. v. Tex. Comm’n on Env’t Quality
- Case number: 23-0282
- Legal category: Administrative Law
- Subtype: Commission on Environmental Quality
- Set for oral argument: October 1, 2024
Case Summary
The issue is whether a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality order approving a permit to discharge wastewater into a creek violates state and federal law governing water-quality standards.
The City of Dripping Springs applied to TCEQ for a permit to discharge wastewater into Onion Creek, which is home to two endangered species of salamander. The creek is considered a “high quality” waterbody, meaning that the quality of its waters exceeds the standards required to maintain their existing uses, which include recreation, aquatic life, aquifer protection, and domestic water supply. Under state and federal law, an application to discharge wastewater into a high‑quality waterbody must satisfy two tiers of review. Under Tier 1 review, no discharge is allowed that would affect the maintenance of existing uses and water quality sufficient to protect those uses. Under Tier 2 review, no discharge is permitted that would degrade or lower the quality of high-quality waters without a showing that the degradation is necessary to accommodate an important economic or social development. And even if this showing is made, any permissible degradation must still not affect a waterbody’s existing uses.
After contested-case proceedings in the agency and the State Office of Administrative Hearings, TCEQ issued a final order approving the permit. Nonprofit conservation group Save Our Springs Alliance filed suit for judicial review of the order under the Administrative Procedure Act, arguing that TCEQ misapplied the standards for Tier 1 and Tier 2 review and failed to demonstrate reasoned decision-making in its order.
Agreeing with Save Our Springs, the trial court reversed the order as unsupported by law or substantial evidence. A split panel of the court of appeals reversed the trial court’s judgment and affirmed TCEQ’s final order issuing the permit. The Supreme Court granted Save Our Springs’ petition for review.
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