H2-OWOW! – A Reflective Conversation with John Goodin, Former Director of EPA’s Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds – Reflections on Water Podcast
Reflections on Sackett - Reflections on Water Podcast
Balado continuité – Environnement : nouveautés du régime d’autorisation québécois
The Koontz Decision: Limits Conditions a Government can Impose on Developers
Supreme Court Hands Landowners a Major Victory - Nossaman's Brad Kuhn
Recent federal court decisions have changed the way wetlands are regulated in the United States. Here's what you need to know. A Shift in Wetland Regulation: The Sackett Decision and Its Impact In 2023, the U.S. Supreme...more
Bats in the Belfry and Water under the Bridge...New Federal Regulations Developers Need to Know - In recent months, the federal government has issued various regulations that developers need to consider before they...more
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the final Clean Water Act (CWA) rule (New Rule) to comply with the US Supreme Court decision in Sackett v. EPA, 598 U.S. _, 143 S. Ct. 1322 (2023) (“Sackett”). This is a...more
The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued an opinion in Sackett v. EPA that established a stricter test for whether the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) applies to a wetland. The test limits federal jurisdiction to wetlands with a...more
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in on a long-standing controversy over the extent to which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE; collectively, the Agencies) have...more
On May 25, 2023, the United States Supreme Court issued its long-awaited opinion in Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, diving back into a decades-long debate over the definition of “waters of the United States”...more
After many decades of uncertainty around the meaning of “the waters of the United States” (WOTUS), the United States Supreme Court narrowed the definition of WOTUS under the Clean Water Act (CWA) in its opinion on May 25,...more
In a 9-0 ruling published on May 25, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the U.S. EPA’s and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE's) use of the expansive “significant nexus” test to assert authority over adjacent wetlands as...more
The Supreme Court ends protection for most wetlands in the United States... In a sweeping decision, the Supreme Court last week eliminated federal protection for more than half the wetlands in the United States. (Sackett...more
During the past two years, the half-century-old Clean Water Act (“CWA”) has become a hot topic, with controversies over its interpretation coming to a boil throughout the end of last year into the beginning of this one. If a...more
The Idaho family that upended the Obama administration’s wetlands regime in the Supreme Court is back, much to the dismay of the Biden administration. On Monday, the Supreme Court issued a surprise order agreeing to review,...more
On January 24th, the U.S. Supreme Court granted Certiorari in Sackett, Michael, et ux. v. EPA, et al. on the limited question of “[w]hether the Ninth Circuit set forth the proper test for determining whether wetlands are...more
After reviewing and responding to initial public comments, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) has issued its revised draft Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) Interim...more
In Matter of Bernstein v Putnam Val. Zoning Bd. of Appeals, property owners sought to construct a hot tub on their residential property, located in a protected area known as a wetland buffer. The Wetlands Inspector for the...more
On Oct. 19, 2020, the City Planning Commission certified for public review a proposed citywide text amendment known as Zoning for Coastal Flood Resiliency (ZCFR). The proposal seeks to update and make permanent those zoning...more
Sea level rise could bring flooding to inland California - Bullet Los Angeles Times – August 17 - Sea level rise is more complicated than just waves breaking over seawalls and beaches disappearing. As the ocean moves...more
The State Water Resources Control Board voted this week to increase state protections for wetlands by adopting both a new wetlands definition and procedures for obtaining associated dredge and fill permits. The regulations...more
Resolving an issue not previously decided by Massachusetts appellate courts, the Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled that a landowner is not entitled to a jury trial on a regulatory taking claim....more
On Tuesday, the Massachusetts Appeals Court denied a regulatory takings claim brought by a plaintiff whose development plans for her property in Falmouth were denied by the Falmouth Conservation Commission. Plaintiff’s...more
Land Use and Development Case Summaries (short form) - 1. PLANNING AND ZONING - CENTER FOR COMMUNITY ACTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE V. CITY OF MORENO VALLEY, 26 Cal. App. 5th 689 (2018) - Based on the language and...more
Also known as negative easements, restrictive covenants can wreak havoc on the ability to develop property. Recently, in our real estate practice at Farrell Fritz, we have seen two alarming examples....more
California Prepares for Possible Rollback of Federal Water, Wetlands Regulations - Scott Pruitt, President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has discussed eliminating what he...more
A city may deny a proposed mobilehome park subdivision that is inconsistent with the open space element of its general plan, according to the recent court of appeal decision in Carson Harbor Village, Ltd. v. City of Carson,...more
The Clean Water Rule recently issued by EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers defines the scope of federal jurisdiction over wetlands and other “waters of the United States.”[1] It’s effective on August 28, 2015, so you need...more
On March 10, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that the U.S. Corps of Engineers (Corps) had lawfully denied a permit to an applicant seeking to fill 4.8 acres of wetlands in order to build...more