Yesterday the Supreme Court granted certiorari in a set of combined cases raising the question “Whether 316(b) of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1326(b), authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to compare costs with benefits in determining the ‘best technology available for minimizing adverse environmental impact’ at cooling water intake structures.” The grant was something of a surprise, as the Solicitor General had filed a brief in opposition, and the court has not seemed overly eager to wade into technical questions of environmental law.
The Environmental Law Prof blog has more on the case here, and SCOTUSBlog has links to the briefs. The case will be argued next term.