A federal judge ruled that the EPA has no legal right to force a West Virginia Poultry Grower to obtain water pollution permits for runoff from her farm because it is routine stormwater discharge. The judge ruled that litter and manure washed by rain at Lois Alt's farm is agricultural runoff, exempting it from regulation under the Clean Water Act. Administrator Stephen Butler said:
"It's an affirmation of what we thought the rule was, and it shows the EPA was overstepping its bounds."