Both regulators and the regulated community must remain alert to accommodate the constantly changing regulatory scheme created in the post-Sackett world.
The application of Maui and Sackett in recent months confirms the...more
2/26/2024
/ Chevron Deference ,
Clean Water Act ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Hawaii Wildlife Fund v County of Maui ,
Navigable Waters ,
NPDES ,
Sackett v EPA ,
SCOTUS ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States
The 2023 redefinition reinstates the “1986” framework defining the reach and scope of navigable waters.
To determine if a regulated body of water is located on the landowner’s property, the agencies acknowledge these...more
If “Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?” It’s been a quiet term thus far for the Supreme Court, due in part to the hearing of oral arguments in many contentious cases. Below is a brief summary of some of the recent...more
The first quarter of 2022 has yielded a number of decisions, reversals and agency adjustments worth note. ...more
3/30/2022
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
CERCLA ,
Environmental Claims ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
FEMA ,
FERC ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Utilities Sector ,
Wetlands
On December 7, 2021, the most recent proposed revision to the Clean Water Act’s term, “Waters of the United States” was published in the Federal Register. (See 86 FR 69372.) Comments on this proposal must be submitted by...more
2/2/2022
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Navigable Waters ,
NPDES ,
Proposed Rules ,
Rapanos v US ,
Significant Nexus Test ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
We interrupt our usual scrutiny of the courts to focus (mostly) on the important developments in notices and rulemaking issued by and concerning federal regulatory agencies and departments in the past several weeks....more
The federal courts have issued some significant environmental law rulings in the past few days. THE U.S. SUPREME COURT - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service v. Sierra Club, Inc. On March 4, 2021, the court held that the...more
3/25/2021
/ Act of God ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Department of the Interior ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Exxon Mobil ,
FERC ,
FOIA ,
Natural Gas ,
Pipelines ,
SCOTUS ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service v Sierra Club
JANUARY 2020 -
FEDERAL APPELLATE COURTS -
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit -
El Paso County, Texas, et al. v. Donald J. Trump, et al.
On January 8, 2020, a divided panel of the court quickly granted a...more
1/27/2021
/ Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Coal ,
Damages ,
Deepwater Horizon ,
Endangered Species ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Groundwater ,
Hazardous Substances ,
NEPA ,
Oil Spills ,
Rivers ,
Trump Administration ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service ,
US-Mexico Border Wall ,
Water ,
Wildlife Protection
The final NEPA rule substantially revises environmental review procedures and incorporates most of the perceived controversial changes proposed last January, including elimination of cumulative impact analysis, and shortening...more
Here’s a report on several new decisions made over the past few days. U.S. SUPREME COURT - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Northern Plains Resources Council - On July 8, 2020, the Court has issued a partial stay of the...more
It’s been an active month in terms of recent environmental and administrative law cases decided by the federal appellate courts. Flood Control and the Endangered Species Act. ...more
In late December, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released the “Fall 2019 Unified Agenda of Regulatory Actions” just a few days before the Calendar turned to the year 2020....more
The pre-publication version of the final rule to be promulgated by EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) to repeal the 2015 redefinition of the Clean Water Act’s term “Waters of the United States” which is the...more
The federal courts have recently decided two significant Clean Water Act (CWA) cases: State of Georgia, et al. v. Wheeler, where the US District Court for the Southern District of Georgia held that the 2015 rulemaking...more
State of Texas, et al. v. US EPA. The revised regulatory definition of “Waters of the U.S.” continues to generate litigation in the federal courts....more
The latest federal regulatory agenda has been released, which, among other matters, lists proposed and projected environmental regulatory proceedings being considered by different departments and agencies. ...more
5/31/2019
/ CERCLA ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Coast Guard ,
Comment Period ,
Drinking Water ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
NPRM ,
OSHA ,
Safe Drinking Water Act ,
US Army Corps of Engineers
On March 1, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia decided National Parks Conservation Assoc. v. Todd T. Simonite, Lieutenant General, et al. The case involves an application to the U.S. Army Corps of...more
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, housed in the Office of Management and Budget, has issued the Fall 2018 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions to be taken over the next several months by...more
On September 21, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided the case of Tin Cup, LLC v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A divided panel of the Court of Appeals (although all members concurred in the result)...more
On May 24, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims decided one of what may be many cases involving the terrible flooding wrought by Hurricane Harvey in the Houston, TX region. The Court of Federal Claims has divided thousands of...more
On April 9, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in a unanimous opinion, rejected the challenges to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) decision to issue a Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404 permit to the...more
On March 20, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit decided the case of Marquette County Road Commission v. U.S. EPA, et al. The opinion will not be published in the Federal Reporter. Both the trial court and the...more
Many lawsuits have been filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims alleging that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) management of the Missouri River flood control system has resulted in the serious flooding of many...more
On February 27, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana granted a motion for a preliminary injunction filed by a group of environmental plaintiffs seeking to halt the construction of an oil pipeline in...more
Section 1122 of the Water Resources Development Act of 2016 directs the Secretary of the Army, no later than 90 days after the enactment of this law (which took place on December 16, 2016), to establish a pilot program to...more