Dept. of Env. v. Assateague Coastal Trust

Summary

The court upheld the Department’s 2019 general discharge permit for animal feeding operations. It concluded that the permit’s site-specific best management practices, combined with the Department’s authority to impose additional controls when necessary to protect particular waterways, reasonably satisfied federal and state water-quality requirements. The court also held that the Department reasonably exercised its authority to address ammonia emissions through individualized permit conditions and applicable conservation practices.