(KRON)—  San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu filed a final brief in the U.S. Supreme Court against the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday, hoping to save San Franciscans from what he describes as “massive bill increases.”  Millions of PG&E customers to receive credit next month “The City could be forced to make at least $10 billion in capital expenditures that would cause water and sewer bills to skyrocket to nearly $9,000 annually per ratepayer over the next 15 years if the terms San Francisco is challenging are held lawful,” Chiu said.  San Francisco has had a massive sewage water problem— so much so that the Environmental Protection Agency filed a complaint against the city in May, claiming that 1.8 billion gallons of sewage were dumped into the city’s surrounding waters.  Chiu and the city appealed that case, claiming the instructions given to SF needed to be clearer and more affordable. “I have a duty to protect San Franciscans from utility rates that would drive many of them into poverty, as well as make sure San Francisco complies with our obligations to protect the environment,” Chiu said.  In July, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals argued the appeal, claiming federal and state water agencies have “broad authority to impose limitations necessary." Chiu appealed the case again, which eventually led to the Supreme Court stepping in on Tuesday.  In a statement concerning the brief, Chiu emphasized that this case does not challenge the Clean Water Act—a federal bill keeping cities in check by regulating quality standards for surface waters—but rather asks the court to ensure the EPA follows the act by giving permit holders “clear standards that actually prevent water pollution before it happens.” Dennis Herrera, General Manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, the city’s water, power and sewer utility, says San Francisco is facing a Catch-22 situation: “The EPA is basically saying, ‘You can’t pollute too much, but we won’t tell you what too much is until after you’ve already done it.’ That’s untenable. The financial hit to our customers could be so severe that it would drive more than 8,000 San Franciscans into poverty." Individual ratepayers are expected to pay nearly $9,000 annually in 2039, a tenfold increase from today’s average yearly bills of $851, Chiu's office alleges. According to an analysis commissioned by SFPUC, thousands of San Franciscans would no longer be able to cover their basic needs and go into poverty. Between 8,100 and 10,600 more people would no longer earn enough to cover their basic needs and would be forced into poverty, the analysis reports. “San Francisco remains fully committed to complying with the Clean Water Act. We are simply asking the EPA to tell us what the requirements are. Tell us the requirements, and we’ll meet those requirements. Clean Water Act permits should say what they mean and mean what they say.” KRON4 has reached out to the EPA for comment and has yet to hear back as of the publishing of this report.