The Supreme Court appeared split Wednesday on a challenge from the city of San Francisco to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over federal wastewater rules. In its lawsuit against the federal agency,

Lawyers for San Francisco told the court it was "unfair and unworkable" to hold the city potentially liable for huge fines because of polluted water along Pacific beaches near the

Oral arguments in the case come on the heels of a series of losses for environmental regulators at the high court.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday for a lawsuit brought by San Fransisco, challenging the EPA wastewater permits program.

In a case that could set new standards for pollution of offshore waters, the Supreme Court appeared sympathetic Wednesday to San Francisco’s argument that it should be held responsible only for the amount of pollutants discharged from its sewage systems and not for any decline in water quality in the ocean or San Francisco Bay.