Both regulators and the regulated community must remain alert to accommodate the constantly changing regulatory scheme created in the post-Sackett world.
The application of Maui and Sackett in recent months confirms the...more
2/26/2024
/ Chevron Deference ,
Clean Water Act ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Hawaii Wildlife Fund v County of Maui ,
Navigable Waters ,
NPDES ,
Sackett v EPA ,
SCOTUS ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States
The Supreme Court issued 58 opinions in the October 2022 Term. Rulings in several cases will affect the practice of regulatory and administrative law either directly or indirectly, as is recounted below. Before the Court...more
8/25/2023
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Farm Animals ,
Interstate Commerce ,
Jurisdiction ,
Mallory v Norfolk Southern Railway Co ,
Pipelines ,
Popular ,
Sackett v EPA ,
SCOTUS ,
Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard College ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
This is a brief roundup of recent federal court environmental and regulatory law decisions from the federal courts over the past few months, including the much anticipated ruling in Sackett, et ux., v, Environmental...more
6/1/2023
/ Air Pollution ,
Clean Water Act ,
Department of Environmental Quality ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FERC ,
Flooding ,
Navigable Waters ,
NEPA ,
Popular ,
Rivers ,
Sackett v EPA ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Water Pollution ,
Waters of the United States
The 2023 redefinition reinstates the “1986” framework defining the reach and scope of navigable waters.
To determine if a regulated body of water is located on the landowner’s property, the agencies acknowledge these...more
On December 7, 2021, the most recent proposed revision to the Clean Water Act’s term, “Waters of the United States” was published in the Federal Register. (See 86 FR 69372.) Comments on this proposal must be submitted by...more
2/2/2022
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Navigable Waters ,
NPDES ,
Proposed Rules ,
Rapanos v US ,
Significant Nexus Test ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
On August 16, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the lower court’s ruling that the Idaho property of Michael and Chantell Sackett was a regulated wetlands under the then-controlling 1977 EPA rules...more
Several interesting decisions have recently been made by federal and state courts. FEDERAL APPELLATE COURTS - The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals – ARCO Shifts from State to Federal and No Vigor for VIM - On June 18,...more
The pre-publication version of the final rule to be promulgated by EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) to repeal the 2015 redefinition of the Clean Water Act’s term “Waters of the United States” which is the...more
The federal courts have recently decided two significant Clean Water Act (CWA) cases: State of Georgia, et al. v. Wheeler, where the US District Court for the Southern District of Georgia held that the 2015 rulemaking...more
In a decision released on March 31, in Sackett v. EPA, the U.S. District Court for Idaho held, without benefit of oral argument, that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) motion for summary judgment should be granted,...more
On December 3, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court invited the Solicitor’s views on the contested issues whether discharges to groundwater are subject to an he National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, and...more
Unlike other Terms, only a handful of cases addressed administrative and environmental law issues in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2017-2018 Term. However, the next Term of the Court promises to be more active in these areas....more
7/17/2018
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Alien Tort Statute ,
Anti-Commandeering ,
Appointments Clause ,
Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Jesner et al. v. Arab Bank ,
Lucia v SEC ,
Murphy v National Collegiate Athletic Association ,
Navarro v Encino Motorcars ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Waters of the United States
On February 6, the new rule promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers which establishes an “applicability date” for the 2015 Rule redefining the regulatory definition of “Waters...more
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) have released a pre-publication copy of a Final Rule that was proposed on November 22, 2017 and which will soon be published in the...more
On January 29, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit became the latest federal Court of Appeals to issue a ruling reviving federal District Court challenges to the 2015 Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA)/U.S....more
On January 24, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit dismissed an appeal of a decision by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia that denied a preliminary injunction that would have enjoined...more
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in National Assoc. of Manufacturers v. Department of Defense, et al. (the WOTUS case). The Court held that the plain language of the Clean Water Act (CWA) requires...more
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Office of Management and Budget(Administration) has posted the Fall 2017 Agency Statements of Regulatory Priorities, and what follows is a selection of future environmental...more
12/21/2017
/ Bureau of Land Management ,
Clean Water Act ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Department of the Interior ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
NEPA ,
NPRM ,
RCRA ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States
In compliance with the March 28, 2017 Presidential Executive Order on Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth (EO 13783), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released its Final Report on Review of Agency...more
Only a few existing federal environmental rules have been set aside or overturned by the new Administration, and these actions were taken by the Congress in accordance with the special procedures of the Congressional Review...more
6/20/2017
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Buy American Act ,
CERCLA ,
Clean Power Plan ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Executive Orders ,
FLPMA ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Risk Management ,
Trump Administration ,
Waters of the United States ,
Young Lawyers
“Summer’s lease hath all too short a date.”
Many important environmental and administrative law decisions were reported by the federal and state courts over the past six months. The courts are dealing with very...more
10/17/2016
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Air Pollution ,
Appeals ,
Appointments Clause ,
Boilers ,
CERCLA ,
Chevron Deference ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Department of the Interior ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Federal Vacancies Reform Act ,
FERC ,
Hawkes Co v United States Army Corps of Engineers ,
Incidental Take Permits ,
Lockheed Martin ,
Navarro v Encino Motorcars ,
NEPA ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
NLRB v SW General ,
Nuclear Regulatory Commission ,
Railways ,
Renewable Energy ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service ,
Waters of the United States
This Advisory briefly reports on some of the significant U.S. Supreme Court actions from January through June 2016 related to environmental and administrative law.
...more
8/4/2016
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Alaska ,
Appeals ,
Article III ,
Chevron Deference ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Power Plan ,
Clean Water Act ,
DAPA ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Electric Generation Suppliers ,
Electricity Costs ,
Energy Market ,
Energy Projects ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
EU ,
Exxon Mobil ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Farm Bureau ,
Federal Power Act ,
Federal Vacancies Reform Act ,
FERC ,
FERC v Electric Power Supply Association ,
Groundwater ,
Hawkes Co v United States Army Corps of Engineers ,
Hughes v Talen Energy ,
Immigration ,
Immigration Reform ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Inland Waterways ,
Land Parcels ,
Mercury ,
Murr v Wisconsin ,
National Park Service ,
Native American Issues ,
Navarro v Encino Motorcars ,
NLRB ,
Over-Time ,
Pollution Control ,
Preemption ,
Racketeering ,
Regulatory Takings ,
RICO ,
RJR Nabisco v European Community ,
RTO ,
SCOTUS ,
Service Advisors ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing ,
Sturgeon v Frost ,
Takings Clause ,
TMDL ,
Tribal Lands ,
US v Texas ,
Utilities Sector ,
Utility Rates ,
Wage and Hour ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wholesale
Many construction projects are subject to the regulatory requirements of the Clean Water Act (CWA), including the supremedetermination whether an earth-moving operation is covered by a “dredge and fill” permits administered...more
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) have announced a new Nov. 14, 2014, deadline to submit comments to its much-debated redefinition of the term, “Waters of the United...more