PFAS in Focus: Forever-Engineering With Trent Stober, HDR - Reflections on Water Podcast
On-Demand Webinar | Flood or Drought? A Discussion of the Election’s Potential Legislative Impacts on the Water Sector
[WEBINAR] Fairly (or Unfairly?) Traceable: Are Discharges Through Groundwater Subject to the Clean Water Act?
Water Rights with Eric Garner: Prescriptive Rights
Context is Crucial in Examining BLM’s Proposed Rule for Fracking On Federal Land
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
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
The United States Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy (“SBA”) submitted December 21st comments addressing the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) document titled: Draft Guidance...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or Agency), on November 27, 2023, released its draft guidance addressing its proposed interpretation to apply the Supreme Court decision in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund,...more
On November 20, with no fanfare at all, not even a press release, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its Draft Guidance: Applying the Supreme Court’s County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund Decision in the Clean...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) is issuing for public comment draft guidance on applying the United States Supreme Court decision in County of Maui vs. Hawaii Wildlife Fund. EPA had previously...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced release of its Draft Guidance Regarding NPDES Permitting of Certain Discharges through Groundwater to Surface Waters (Draft Guidance) on Nov. 20, 2023, notice of which...more
Just before the Thanksgiving holiday EPA issued draft guidance regarding when a discharge of a “pollutant” to groundwater is the “functional equivalent” of a discharge to a Water of the United States requiring a NPDES permit...more
The Clean Water Act (CWA) section 401 Water Quality Certification (401 WQC) is a big deal. The certification is required for all direct discharge permits and CWA section 404 Permits to dredge or fill waters of the United...more
Notwithstanding the increasing size and severity of wildfires over the past decade, certain plaintiff groups have sought to constrain the government’s response to wildfires. Brownstein was honored to have the opportunity to...more
Those of us who had the good fortune to vacation on Cape Cod as children in the 1960s or 1970s remember a fabulous vacation escape with miles of pristine beaches, cozy cottages, souvenirs, and wonderful food. Many who...more
Earlier this week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking titled, PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation Rulemaking. ...more
On March 14, 2023, EPA proposed to regulate certain PFAS under the Safe Drinking Water Act. EPA proposed Maximum Contaminant Level Goals for PFOA and PFOS of zero. It proposed Maximum Contaminant Levels for PFOA and PFOS of...more
A promising long-term carbon storage solution could become more viable as the federal government and several states look to speed up the Class VI injection well permitting process. The Safe Drinking Water Act requires the...more
U.S. Supreme Court leans toward limiting scope of Clean Water Act - U.S. News & World Report – October 3 - U.S. Supreme Court justices on October 3 appeared open to limiting the reach of the U.S. Environmental Protection...more
This morning the Supreme Court of the United States heard from the Sacketts of Idaho for the second time. For sixteen years the Sacketts have been in the Federal Courts in connection with their attempt to build a house on a...more
Bobby Magill of Bloomberg has published a concise summary of the two hours in the Supreme Court yesterday during which attorneys for the United States of America and the Sacketts of Idaho were grilled on the reach of the...more
A little over a month ago EPA's Science Advisory Board decided "EPA could benefit from SAB review of the science supporting [EPA's] proposed definition of Waters of the United States.” As many of you know, EPA's proposal is...more
A few considerations practitioners should keep in mind when dealing with contamination involving per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination. The PFAS Action Act of 2021 passed in the House and was received in...more
Entities seeking federal authorization for infrastructure projects that may impact waters of the United States must obtain a Section 401 certification under the Trump administration’s narrowed Section 401 certification...more
In last year’s Land Use, Environmental & Natural Resources Update 2021 Update, we reported on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in County of Maui v. Hawai’i Wildlife Fund (County of Maui), 590 U.S. __; 140 S. Ct. 2778 (2020),...more
Biden administration acts to restore clean-water safeguards - Associated Press – November 18 - The Biden administration took action this Thursday to restore federal protections for hundreds of thousands of small streams,...more
Like everything else today, the definition of “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act (CWA) ebbs and flows depending on which political party holds office. However, while the Biden Administration gets...more
Since the U.S. Supreme Court decided the County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund case in April 2020, the legal landscape of "navigable waters of the U.S." has eroded quickly. With Maui, the Supreme Court created a test for...more