At its May 23, 2024 open meeting, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NOPR”) proposing to establish a one-year “reasonable period of time” for certifying authorities to...more
At its May 23 open meeting, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR), proposing to establish a one-year “reasonable period of time” for certifying authorities to act on...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (“D.C. Circuit”) recently upheld two FERC orders granting natural gas pipeline developers’ requests to extend their construction deadlines. The D.C. Circuit...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
On September 27, 2023, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) published its final 2023 Clean Water Act (“CWA”) Section 401 Water Quality Certification Improvement Rule (2023 Rule), which goes into effect on...more
On September 15, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its final rule governing water quality certifications under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA). Section 401 requires the applicant for a...more
EPA is publishing its final rule specifying the role of States and Tribes in the Federal licensing or permitting of activities that may result in a "discharge" into a "Water of the United States". Like EPA's recent tenth...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced on September 14th a final rule that it denominates Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality Certification Improvement Rule (“Final Rule”)....more
A filing in a California federal court indicates that EPA is planning to apply its new Clean Water Act section 401 certification rule to all certification requests, including those that are currently pending and that were...more
On February 21, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Ninth Circuit) issued the latest in a series of opinions involving the Trump Administration’s rule interpreting Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA)....more
On December 20, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) in Waterkeepers Chesapeake, et al. v. FERC vacated a FERC order approving the relicensing of the Conowingo Dam because FERC did not have...more
On August 5, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overruled several orders by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and held that the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) did not waive...more
Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed rule to replace existing regulatory requirements for water quality certifications under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA)....more
On June 2, 2022, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposed rule updating the water quality certification regulatory requirements under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA). This proposed...more
On 9 June 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published in the federal register a proposed rule regarding the Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 401 water quality certification process (the Proposed Rule), undoing...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a proposed rule on June 9, 2022, to revise the requirements for water quality certification under the Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 401. The proposed rule changes both...more
Last week, EPA released its proposed “Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality Certification Improvement Rule”. The proposed rule would make a number of significant changes to the rule promulgated by EPA in 2020....more
EPA released a pre-publication version of its proposal to re-write the Clean Water Act 401 Certification Rule. The proposed re-write comes after the Northern District of California vacated EPA’s 2020 Certification Rule, which...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
THE CLEAN WATER ACT AND SECTION 401 - In 1948, Congress passed the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) as the first rendition of a law intended to address growing pollution of American waters. By 1972, increased...more
The U.S. Supreme Court on April 6, 2022, issued an emergency order reinstating the Trump Administration’s rule governing Section 401 of the Clean Water Act. The rule imposes limits on the timing and scope of a State or...more
On April 6, 2022, by a 5-4 vote in the case of Louisiana, et. al. v. American Rivers, et. al., the Supreme Court temporarily resurrected a Trump-era rule that sought to stop the practice of many states and tribes from...more
On Wednesday, April 6, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision stayed a Northern District of California Court decision that both remanded and vacated EPA Trump-era rules regarding water quality certification of projects...more
Today, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court re-instated the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) 2020 Clean Water Act (CWA) section 401 rule (Certification Rule). The Court stayed a decision by the U.S. District...more
On April 6, 2022, the Supreme Court stayed an October 21, 2021 Northern District of California Court ruling that vacated and remanded EPA’s 2020 revisions to the processes for states to certify water quality impacts from...more