The Court’s decision has prompted the US Army Corps of Engineers to freeze jurisdictional determinations for permitted activities pending additional guidance. By Michael G. Romey, Lucas Quass, and Peter R. Viola On May 25, 2023, by a narrow 5-4 majority, the US Supreme Court ruled in Sackett v. EPA that the Clean Water Act (CWA) … Continue Reading
The proposed definition would significantly extend the regulatory scope of the Clean Water Act. By Michael G. Romey, Cody M. Kermanian, and Lucas I. Quass On December 7, 2021, the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Army Corps of Engineers (collectively, the Agencies) published a proposed rule (the Proposed Rule) to revise the definition … Continue Reading
New definition of “waters of the United States” takes effect June 22, 2020 everywhere except Colorado under split decisions. By Janice M. Schneider and Peter R. Viola In the closely watched battle over the scope of the Clean Water Act (CWA), a federal court in California has denied a motion brought by a coalition of … Continue Reading
Decision concludes a permit is required if such discharges are the “functional equivalent” of a direct discharge to navigable waters. By Janice Schneider, Maria Hoye, and Ethan Prall On April 23, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States issued an opinion in County of Maui, Hawai’i v. Hawai’i Wildlife Fund, holding that the Clean … Continue Reading
Latest court ruling further underscores circuit split on groundwater conduit theory. By Joel C. Beauvais and Stacey L. VanBelleghem The US District Court for the Central District of Illinois has held that power plant owners are not liable under the Clean Water Act (CWA) for discharges of pollutants from coal ash disposal facilities through groundwater … Continue Reading
By Janice Schneider, Joel Beauvais, Stacey VanBelleghem, Jennifer Roy, and Francesca Bochner On March 19, 2017, 52 new or reissued nationwide permits (NWPs) for discharges into “waters of the United States,” issued pursuant to Section 404(e) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act went into effect. The … Continue Reading
By Joel Beauvais and Claudia O’Brien President Donald Trump, on February 28, signed an executive order (EO) directing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) to issue a proposed rulemaking for notice and comment to rescind or revise their joint 2015 Clean Water Rule, also known as the Waters of the … Continue Reading
By Andrea Hogan, Lucas Quass, John Morris and Steven Mach On January 13, 2017, the US Supreme Court granted certiorari for an appeal that will allow the Court to determine the proper jurisdiction for litigation challenging the Clean Water Rule (the Final Rule).[1] The federal Clean Water Act (CWA) provides for original jurisdiction in the … Continue Reading
