Key Takeaways -
What is Happening? The Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) published for public comment its proposed 2026 Construction Stormwater General Permit (CSWGP), which authorizes stormwater discharges...more
Key Takeaways -
What Happened? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final modification to its 2022 Construction General Permit (CGP) to expand the list of areas eligible for coverage to include...more
Key Takeaways -
What Happened? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed the 2026 version of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) MSGP for stormwater discharges associated with...more
Update: On February 3, 2025, EPA extended the comment period on the 2026 Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP) to April 4, 2025....more
Update: On January 31, under the new Trump administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reopened the comment period for the 2024 Preliminary Designation and draft General Permit for CII properties. Written...more
2026 MSGP -
EPA released its proposed 2026 MSGP, which authorizes stormwater discharges associated with industrial activities in jurisdictions where EPA is the NPDES permitting authority, including Massachusetts, New...more
On November 20, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 9 published in the Federal Register its Final Designation of stormwater discharges from commercial, industrial, and institutional (CII) properties...more
Key Takeaways -
What Is Happening? On October 31, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 1 provided notice of two proposed actions pursuant to its “residual designation authority” (RDA) under the Clean...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is soliciting comments on a draft guidance document on approaches to issuing National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits for communities that have completed...more
As September ended, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Region 1 office took a series of actions signaling the agency’s intention to impose climate change adaptation requirements in National Pollutant Discharge...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to expand its toolbox for addressing PFAS constituents — this time, by branching out into Clean Water Act (CWA) enforcement of industrial permit effluent limitations....more
Key Takeaways What Is Happening? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published for public comment its proposed 2022 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Construction General Permit (CGP), which...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published for public comment its proposed 2020 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP), which authorizes stormwater discharges...more
On November 26, a federal district court judge in Massachusetts held that releases of pollutants reaching surface waters through groundwater do not require permits under the Clean Water Act (CWA), “irrespective of any...more
The Supreme Court of the United States heard oral argument in County of Maui v. Hawai’i Wildlife Fund, No. 18-260, a case in which the justices will decide a key jurisdictional issue under the Clean Water Act (CWA): whether...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has granted certiorari on a critical question affecting the scope of the Clean Water Act (CWA): whether releases of pollutants require National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits...more
On Monday, divided panels of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a pair of decisions holding that Clean Water Act (“CWA”) Section 301’s prohibition on unpermitted discharges does not apply to pollutants...more
Earlier this year, the Fourth and Ninth Circuits decided a pair of cases that have the potential to greatly expand the scope of the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program under the Clean Water...more
On February 1, 2018, the Ninth Circuit issued a decision in Hawai’i Wildlife Fund, 886 F.3d 737 (9th Circ. 2018), that has the potential to greatly expand the scope of the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System...more
Last week, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California gave environmental groups a significant win in their bid to force EPA to regulate new sources of stormwater discharges under the Clean Water Act...more
If the first two months of 2018 are any indication, events to play out over the rest of the year will have a major impact on what constitutes a “discharge” subject to regulation under Section 402 of the Clean Water Act (CWA)....more
On February 1, the Ninth Circuit issued a decision that has the potential to sweep regulated groundwater discharges that reach surface waters, and similarly remote-in-place discharge situations, into the Clean Water Act’s...more
The past several months have witnessed multiple attempts by environmental groups bring currently unregulated entities that discharge stormwater into the Clean Water Act (CWA) National Pollution Discharge Elimination System...more
In a unanimous opinion, the Supreme Court today held that lawsuits challenging the 2015 rule amending the definition of waters of the United States (WOTUS Rule) under the Clean Water Act (CWA) must be brought in federal...more
A recent Fourth Circuit decision will have wastewater dischargers taking a closer look at their NPDES permits and state water quality standards. The court of appeals held, in Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition v. Fola Coal...more