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

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.