Clean Water Act, Section 404

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to Process Section 404 Permits While Florida’s Appeal is Pending

Lowndes on 4/25/2024

On April 12, 2024, U.S. District Court Judge Randolph D. Moss denied the State of Florida’s (State) Motion for a Limited Stay of the February 15, 2024, order invalidating the State’s partial assumption of the Section 404...more

2024 Litigation Look Ahead Series: Increased Application of Major Questions Doctrine Could Limit Regulatory Authority

Beveridge & Diamond PC on 2/21/2024

B&D is pleased to present the next installment of our 2024 Litigation Look Ahead series. (Read part one covering the future of Chevron deference here.) In this edition, our litigation team highlights recently decided or...more

D.C. Court Vacates Florida's Assumption of the Federal Clean Water Act Permit Program

Holland & Knight LLP on 2/20/2024

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Feb. 15, 2024, issued an order vacating the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) approval of the state of Florida's application to assume permitting authority...more

EPA Proposes Changes to CWA Section 404 Tribal and State Assignment and Administration Regulations

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP on 8/30/2023

For the first time in nearly 35 years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) has proposed to comprehensively revise regulations governing how Tribes and States assume responsibility over administration...more

Major Questions Doctrine Reaches the Clean Water Act

Beveridge & Diamond PC on 8/14/2023

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed a district court’s dismissal of environmental plaintiffs’ claim that shrimp trawlers require either a Section 404 or National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System...more

Surprising to see EPA now taking steps to make it easier for states to take over the Federal Government's dredge and fill permit...

Mintz on 7/20/2023

I'm surprised to see the Biden Administration EPA moving forward right now with a rule proposed during the Trump Administration to allow states to take over responsibility for the permitting of "dredge and fill" activities...more

The United States Supreme Court’s Decision in Sackett v. EPA Narrows the Jurisdictional Scope of Wetlands Protected Under the...

Lowndes on 6/5/2023

After many decades of uncertainty around the meaning of “the waters of the United States” (WOTUS), the United States Supreme Court narrowed the definition of WOTUS under the Clean Water Act (CWA) in its opinion on May 25,...more

Northern Long-Eared Bat “Uplisted” to Endangered Status

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on 1/30/2023

On November 30, 2022, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) published a final rule reclassifying the northern long-eared bat under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), uplisting the bat from “threatened” to...more

Biden Administration Finalizes Waters of the United States Rule in Latest Move Involving Ongoing Water Quality Saga

Downey Brand LLP on 1/6/2023

On December 30, 2022 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and the U.S. Department of the Army (“Corps”) (collectively referred to as the “Agencies”) under the Biden Administration released a pre-publication...more

Taking Bets: The Supreme Court Is Just About to Split NPDES and Section 404 Permitting Under the Clean Water Act

(ACOEL) | American College of Environmental... on 10/3/2022

The first Monday in October is just around the corner, and the first oral argument on the Supreme Court’s agenda is Sackett v. EPA. The Supreme Court is stepping once more into Clean Water Act “waters of the United States,”...more

Clean Water Act/Section 404: Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida Challenge U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Delegation to...

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,... on 8/15/2022

The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida (“Miccosukee”) filed an August 4th Complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida against the United States Environmental Protection Agency...more

Army Corps Signals Narrowing Nationwide Permit 12

Beveridge & Diamond PC on 4/8/2022

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) recently published notice that it is initiating a formal review of Nationwide Permit (NWP) 12 a little over a year after its latest iteration took effect. NWP 12, which serves as a...more

WOTUS: What to Watch For in 2022

(ACOEL) | American College of Environmental... on 3/31/2022

In 2022, the on-going debate will continue over the hotly contested definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS), a phrase that determines the scope of federal jurisdiction over streams, wetlands and other waterbodies...more

Developing Offshore Wind in California – Environmental Permitting and Interconnection Considerations

Downey Brand LLP on 3/2/2022

The California coast offers significant potential for offshore wind development that can help the state reach its renewable energy goals. Developers of wind energy projects located off the California coast will face a number...more

SCOTUS and WOTUS: Is Sackett Case the Final Chapter?

Venable LLP on 1/28/2022

On January 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari on a fundamental environmental law question that has lingered for several decades - what is the appropriate definition of "waters of the United States" (WOTUS) in...more

Yazoo Mississippi Backwater Area Pumps Project: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Reinstates 404 Veto

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,... on 11/18/2021

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) reversed a prior decision and restored a Clean Water Act Section 404 veto of the Yazoo Backwater Area Pumps Project (“Project”). Earth Justice had previously filed...more

Army Corps Halts Coverage Under Nationwide Permits

Troutman Pepper on 11/5/2021

Landowners and permit applicants received an email notification this week that the Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) would not be processing their requests for coverage under a variety of Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404...more

404/Clean Water Act: U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Request that Trump Administration Nationwide...

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,... on 10/26/2021

The Chairman of the United States House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Peter DeFazio (“Chairman”), sent an October 13th letter to the Biden Administration addressing Section 404 Clean Water...more

How Safe is Your WOTUS Harbor?

(ACOEL) | American College of Environmental... on 9/21/2021

In 2005 the Corps of Engineers adopted a Regulatory Guidance Letter (RGL) providing that an “approved jurisdictional determination” (AJD) “will remain valid for a period of five years, unless new information warrants revision...more

District Court Lacked Jurisdiction Over Clean Water Act Section 404 Permit Challenge Involving FERC License Amendment

Troutman Pepper on 6/4/2021

On March 31, U.S. District Judge Christine Arguello found that the Federal Power Act (FPA) is the exclusive authority with regards to controversies related to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) -issued hydroelectric...more

Podcast: What’s in a Wetland - An Overview of Federal and State Developments in Defining Jurisdictional Wetlands

Nossaman LLP on 4/26/2021

In this episode of Digging Into Land Use Law, Nossaman Environment & Land Use partner Mary Lynn Coffee and associate Stephanie Clark explore the eternal question – at least under federal and California law – what’s in a...more

Clean Water Act/Section 404 Program: Environmental Organizations Judicial Challenge to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency...

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,... on 2/4/2021

Earthjustice and a number of other environmental organizations filed a January 14th Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief (“Complaint”) challenging the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”)...more

Clean Water Act › Section 404