But over the past 50 years, some places have occasionally run afoul of the act. In San Francisco, the wastewater system discharges a mix of sewage and stormwater into the bay during major storms, often causing bacteria levels to exceed EPA regulatory standards .

The conservative Supreme Court aligned with liberal San Francisco on Tuesday, ruling that federal environmental regulators overstepped their authority by attempting to impose vague limits on how much raw sewage the California city may pump into the Pacific Ocean.

The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the Environmental Protection Agency overstepped its authority under the Clean Water Act by imposing unclear water quality standards on San Francisco, siding with the city in its appeal of a lower court ruling.

The Supreme Court sided with San Francisco on Tuesday in its challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). A majority on the court held that the EPA exceeded its authority by issuing San Francisco a permit that did not clearly explain the limits on how much sewage it could discharge into the ocean but included a vague “end-result” provision that made the city responsible for the water quality.

The Supreme Court's decision is the latest in which conservative justices have reined in pollution control efforts.

Tuesday that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rules for the city of San Francisco under the Clean Water Act on raw sewage discharge are overly vague, siding

Continuing the rout of the EPA's authority undertaken by the Trump Administration, the Supreme Court Tuesday overturned rules limiting the discharge of wastewater into harbors and coastal zones of America.