Discharge of Pollutants

The EPA Reaches Back in Time: Appeals Court Allows Government to Veto 404 Permits Issued Years Earlier

by James Potter | Nexsen Pruet, PLLC on 5/16/2013

Both public and private landowners have to obtain Section 404 discharge permits for the discharge of dredged materials from navigable waters. The Army Corps of Engineers is the permitting authority for the Section 404...more

City of Seattle and King County Agree to Major Upgrades to Settle Discharge Violations

by Lynn Manolopoulos | Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on 4/23/2013

To settle an enforcement action by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and the State of Washington (“State”), King County and the City of Seattle have agreed to complete major upgrades to their local sewage and...more

Coming to a Steam Electric Generating Plant Near You in May 2014 — New Effluent Limitation Guidelines

by Seth Jaffe | Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law on 4/23/2013

Last Friday, EPA announced release of its draft proposal to revise the effluent guidelines and standards for the steam electric power generating industry, last revised in 1982. The proposal was in conformance with a...more

Supreme Court Upholds EPA's Logging Road Exception from Clean Water Act NPDES Permitting

by Lawrence R. Liebesman | Holland & Knight LLP on 4/12/2013

On March 20, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion in Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center that addresses the issue of "whether the Clean Water Act and its implementing regulations require permits before...more

EPA Revises Effluent Guidelines and Standards for Construction and Development

by Gregory Braker, Thomas Lingan, Megan Roberts-Satinsky, Margaret Strand, M. Rosewin Sweeney | Venable LLP on 4/11/2013

On April 1, 2013, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed changes to the Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standards for the Construction and Development Point Source Category (the Proposed Rule)...more

Ninth Circuit Rules That Storm Water Runoff From Utility Poles Is Not A “Point Source” Discharge Under The Clean Water Act Or A...

by Marc Bruner | Perkins Coie on 4/9/2013

An environmental group argued that rain water washing over utility poles and carrying wood preservatives used to treat the poles into Bay Area waterways violated the Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Resource Conservation and...more

Supreme Court Reverses 9th Circuit on Logging Roads, Deferring to EPA on Its Industrial Stormwater Rule

by Anthony Cavender, Wayne Whitlock, Tamara Zakim | Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP on 4/8/2013

On March 20, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court held in a 7-1 decision that Clean Water Act permits are not required for stormwater runoff from logging roads. The decision in Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center defers...more

No Permit Required For Timber Harvesting

by Darlene Marsh | Burr & Forman on 4/5/2013

The U. S. Supreme Court’s March 20, 2013, decision in Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center is good news for the logging industry. The Clean Water Act (Act) and EPA’s Silvicultural Rule (Regulation) do not require...more

Oklahoma Court Addresses Time Element Pollution Exclusion

by Traub Lieberman Straus & Shrewsberry LLP on 3/29/2013

In its recent decision in Colony Insurance Company v. Bear Products, Inc., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43716 (E.D. Okl. Mar. 26, 2013), the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma had occasion to consider...more

No Permits Required for Channeled Stormwater Discharges from Logging Roads

by Victoria Hollinger | Morgan Lewis on 3/27/2013

Supreme Court ruling gives deference to EPA's interpretation of its own regulations. On March 20, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the consolidated cases of Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center and...more

Supreme Court Confirms EPA’s Interpretation That Logging Roads Do Not Require NPDES Permits

by Chris Carr, Shaye Diveley | Morrison & Foerster LLP on 3/22/2013

In a 7-1 decision overruling the Ninth Circuit, the U.S. Supreme Court today upheld the Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) long-standing interpretation that stormwater run-off from logging roads are exempt from NPDES...more

U.S. Supreme Court: NPDES Permits Are Not Required For Logging Road Stormwater Runoff

by Robert Maynard | Perkins Coie on 3/22/2013

The U.S. Supreme Court has reversed a 2010 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision and reaffirmed that a federal Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) point source discharge permit is not...more

Logging Roads Get A Pass – At Least For Now

by David Ubaldi | Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on 3/22/2013

Yesterday, in a 7-1 decision with Justice Scalia the lone dissenter, the U.S. Supreme Court handed a major victory to the forest products industry. As it does so often, the Court reversed a Ninth Circuit ruling that had...more

Logging Road Runoff Does Not Require an NPDES Permit: The Supreme Court (For Now) Defers to EPA’s Interpretation of Its Own...

by Seth Jaffe | Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law on 3/21/2013

Yesterday, in Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center, the Supreme Court ruled that runoff from logging roads does not constitute a discharge from a point source that requires an NPDES permit. The decision upholds...more

Combine New Gas Plants, Lower Gas Prices, and More Stringent Emission Controls and What Do You Get? Lower Emissions

by Seth Jaffe | Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law on 2/14/2013

ISO New England has just released its Electric Generator Air Emissions Report for 2011. The bottom line?...more

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Proposes 50 Percent Increase in Title V Annual Air Emissions Fees

by Richard H. Friedman, Scott Gould | McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC on 2/11/2013

If you are one of the nearly 560 Title V facilities in Pennsylvania, DEP has proposed a 50 percent increase in your annual air emissions fees. (See 43 PA Bulletin 677, February 2, 2013.) Under the proposal, you will pay $85...more

Another Win for Pennsylvania Policyholders Concerning the Duty to Defend and the Pollution Exclusion

by Luke Debevec, John Ellison | Reed Smith on 2/6/2013

Policyholders with pollution-related liabilities in Pennsylvania scored another win in January, in the ongoing litigation battle with insurance companies that argue for the broadest possible interpretation of the "pollution...more

When Do Air Emissions Constitute a Discharge to Waters of the United States? Any Time the Emissions Reach Waters of the United...

by Seth Jaffe | Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law on 2/4/2013

In a fascinating post today, my colleague from the American College of Environmental Lawyers, Patricia Finn Braddock, reported on a case at the intersection of the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act that could have...more

The Supreme Court Reverses the 9th Circuit and Reaffirms Its Earlier Interpretation of ‘Discharge’ Under the Clean Water Act

by Anthony Cavender, Wayne Whitlock, Tamara Zakim | Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP on 1/29/2013

On January 8, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court held unanimously in L.A. County Flood Control District v. NRDC that the flow of polluted stormwater from an improved portion of a navigable waterway into an unimproved portion of...more

U.S. Supreme Court Overturns Effort To Hold Stormwater Permit Holder Liable For Condition Of Waters Passing Through

by Ronald Farley | Burr & Forman on 1/25/2013

The United States Supreme Court, in a unanimous ruling, has acted to limit a potential liability of municipalities and other stormwater permit holders with respect to the condition of waters entering and passing through their...more

Flood Control District Wins Dispute Over Discharge Of Storm Water That Flows Through Improved Portions Of Navigable Waterways

by Janet Goldsmith, Jeffrey L. Massey, Eric Robinson | Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann & Girard on 1/21/2013

In its most recent foray into the meaning of the Clean Water Act, the Supreme Court has answered the fundamental question: “Does a ‘discharge of pollutants’ occur when polluted water flows from one portion of a river that is...more

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