[WEBINAR] Fairly (or Unfairly?) Traceable: Are Discharges Through Groundwater Subject to the Clean Water Act?
A United States District Court (W.D. Texas, “Court”) addressed in a June 11th Decision issues arising out of a Clean Water Act citizen suit enforcement action. See Ragsdale v. JLM Construction Services, Inc. 2024 WL 2933009. ...more
The James Howard Mize and Patricia Dean Mize Joint Revocable Trust (“Trust”) filed in the Circuit Court of Faulkner County, Arkansas on August 19th a Complaint against the following two corporations and one individual: ...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and Mr. Mulch, LLC (“Mr. Mulch”) entered into a July 11th Expedited Settlement Agreement (“ESA”) addressing alleged violations of the Clean Water Act Stormwater...more
An environmental advocacy organization on July 23 filed a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles over the Port of L.A.'s stormwater treatment system. At issue is a 53-acre portion of the port on Terminal Island where...more
The United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and Wafler Farms, Inc., doing business as Wafler Nursery & Orchards (“WFI”) entered into a July 23rd Consent Decree (“CD”) addressing alleged violations of the Clean Water Act....more
As our understanding of the environment and anthropogenic impact grows, protection efforts increasingly spawn regulation. Media coverage of perceived harms to health and the environment and well-funded advocacy by...more
A May 2024 report has been issued titled: New Guide for Using Clean Water Act Discharge Permits to Protect Drinking Water Sources (“Guide”). The Guide was issued by the Source Water Collaborative (“SWC”)....more
The Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment – Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) and City of Greenbrier (“Greenbrier”) entered into an April 15th Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing alleged violations...more
The Accidental Chemical Release Rules have an effective date of May 10, 2024, and includes a number of situations requiring compliance, generally by May 10, 2027. The new Clean Water Act facility response plan...more
The Conservation Law Foundation (“CLF”) sent an April 10th letter to Patriot Beverages, LLC and CPF, Inc. (collectively, “Pepsi Beverages”) styled: Notice of Violations and Intent to File Suit Under the Clean Water Act...more
Key Takeaways - • What Is Happening? On March 14, 2024, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed a final rule requiring certain facilities to develop Facility Response Plans (FRPs) for a potential worst-case...more
The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment - Division of Environmental Quality ("DEQ") and Crowleys Ridge College ("Crowleys Ridge") entered into a February 20th Consent Administrative Order ("CAO") addressing an...more
The City of Holyoke, Massachusetts, (“Holyoke”) filed a document before the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Environmental Appeals Board (“EAB”) titled: Petition for Review of City of Holyoke Water...more
The Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment - Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) and TD Granite & Marble (“TD”) entered into a February 21st Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing alleged violations of a...more
The United States Supreme Court isn't done with the Clean Water Act and EPA's interpretation of it. This month the City and County of San Francisco asked the nation's highest court to overturn a split Ninth Circuit Court of...more
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
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and Berg Brothers Recycling, Inc. (“Berg Brothers”) entered into a January 31st Consent Agreement (“CA”) addressing alleged violations of a Clean Water Act stormwater...more
Ever since the Clean Water Act of 1972 dramatically overhauled the way in which America, through the EPA, monitors and protects its waterways, there has been the struggle between the literal life-and-death need for clean...more
Companies that produce and discharge pollutants are subject to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) oversight under the Clean Water Act. The EPA routinely conducts inspections focused on federal laws like Oil Pollution...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (“Ninth Circuit”) addressed in a recent opinion whether a Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) permit should have been obtained by...more
The Tenth Circuit became the second federal appellate court—after the Ninth Circuit—to analyze how federal district courts should evaluate whether a discharge of pollutants to groundwater is the “functional equivalent” of a...more
EPA is poised to issue a final rule (the Rule) requiring stringent planning requirements for facilities with the potential for a “worst-case discharge” that could reasonably be expected to cause substantial harm to the...more
November was an eventful month for the Clean Water Act (CWA). The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued two decisions last month—which will apply to cases and matters in California and other states within the Ninth...more
The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (“LDEQ”) and St. Landry Parish Solid Waste Disposal District (“St. Landry”) entered into a Settlement Agreement (“SA”) addressing alleged violations of a solid waste permit...more
When EPA published its most recent rule specifying the role of States and Tribes in the Federal permitting of discharges into Waters of the United States, I predicted it was only a matter of time before we'd see another...more