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
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
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
Last week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that EPA’s decision to withdraw its proposed veto of the Army Corps’ Section 404 permit for the Pebble Mine project in Bristol Bay, Alaska, was subject to judicial review. ...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Dec. 17, 2020, signed an agreement to delegate to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) the authority to issue permits in the state under Section 404 of...more
On December 17, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") announced their approval of the State of Florida’s request to administer federal wetlands permitting under the Clean Water Act ("CWA") Section 404 Program...more
On December 11, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the “Corps”) proposed new regulations that would sharply curtail the Corps’ permitting authority under the Clean Water...more
Last week before his departure USEPA Administrator Pruitt notified the regulated community that he had directed the Agency to update regulations governing the Agency’s use of Section 404(c) veto power in permitting discharges...more
United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Administrator E. Scott Pruitt issued a March 30th memorandum titled: Revision to Delegation of Authority 2-43, Section 404 Dredged and Fill Material Permitting...more
On March 20, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit decided the case of Marquette County Road Commission v. U.S. EPA, et al. The opinion will not be published in the Federal Reporter. Both the trial court and the...more
• The Trump Administration released an ambitious $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan on Feb. 12, 2018 – a plan that includes many provisions focused upon encouraging the reuse of contaminated brownfields and Superfund sites. ...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and D.R. Horton, Inc., (“DRHI”) entered into an August 17th Consent Agreement and Final Order (“CA”) addressing alleged violations of Section 404 of the Clean Water...more
Under Section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. § 1344), a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is required for activities involving the discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the...more
In 2013, the D.C. Circuit affirmed EPA’s authority to withdrawal approval of mountaintop mining disposal sites, even after the Army Corps has issued a Section 404 permit. In 2014, the District Court rejected Mingo Logan’s...more
On May 31, 2016, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in United States Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co., Inc. holding that approved judicial determinations as to the presence of wetlands issued by the...more
On June 17, 2016, the State Water Resources Control Board (State Board) issued its much-anticipated draft “Procedures for Discharges of Dredged or Fill Materials to Waters of the State” (Draft Permitting Procedures). The...more
On May 31, 2016, in United States Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co., the US Supreme Court unanimously held that a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) approved jurisdictional determination (JD) is a final agency action...more
Environmental and Policy Focus - U.S. Supreme Court allows pre-permit challenges to approved jurisdictional determinations - Allen Matkins - May 31 - In a major new legal development for the Clean Water Act's...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Supreme Court decided that Army Corps’ jurisdictional determinations are judicially reviewable. This decision leaves open the question of whether other types of administrative decisions are immediately...more
Introduction - On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an important decision that continues a trend of judicial skepticism toward federal agency efforts to avoid judicial review of agency permitting and related...more
Decision allows landowners to challenge in court a US Army Corps of Engineers’ determination that a property is subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act....more
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co., Inc., No. 15-290 (May 31, 2016) - Why It Matters: The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously concluded that property owners who are required to obtain Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404...more
In the Odyssey, Homer told of the inescapable sailing hazards that confronted Odysseus: the six-headed sea monster, Scylla, on one side of a strait and a whirlpool, Charybdis, on the other. Odysseus chose to avoid losing all...more
The Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and the Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) published a final rule on May 27, 2015, that purports to clarify the definition of “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act...more
After years of deliberation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Agencies) issued their long-awaited final rule last week defining “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) for Clean Water...more