On July 6, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court granted in part and denied in part the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ application for stay of the order issued by the U.S. District Court of Montana....more
7/9/2020
/ Appeals ,
Article III ,
Clean Water Act ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Emergency Orders ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Injunctions ,
Irreparable Harm ,
Motion To Stay ,
Nationwide Permits (NWPs) ,
NEPA ,
Pipelines ,
SCOTUS
Update June 29, 2020: On June 25, 2020, Ohio EPA issued the Ohio General Permit for Filling Category 1 and Category 2 Isolated Wetlands and Ephemeral Streams. ...more
Update June 17, 2020: On June 15, 2020, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers filed an application to the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay of the April 15, 2020, order (amended May 11, 2020) issued by the U.S. District Court of...more
6/18/2020
/ Article III ,
Clean Water Act ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Energy Projects ,
Equitable Relief ,
Injunctions ,
Irreparable Harm ,
Keystone XL Pipeline ,
Motion To Stay ,
Nationwide Permits (NWPs) ,
NEPA ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
SCOTUS ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Vacatur
Bricker attorneys Frank Merrill and Christine Rideout Schirra will be presenting 'Environmental Permitting Appeals and Pipeline Construction: Are the circuit courts the new environmental review courts?' for the Institute of...more
6/10/2020
/ Administrative Orders ,
Administrative Review ,
Appeals ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Litigation ,
Environmental Review ,
Exclusive Jurisdiction ,
Judicial Review ,
Land-Use Permits ,
Natural Gas ,
Natural Gas Act ,
Oil & Gas ,
Original Jurisdiction ,
Pipelines ,
State Administrative Agencies ,
Webinars
Update May 29, 2020: On May 28, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an order denying the appellants’ emergency motions for a partial stay of the district court’s April 15, 2020, and May 11, 2020,...more
Bricker & Eckler and Hull & Associates will discuss the potential impacts and outcomes of recent activities in the area of surface water permitting. Specifically, we will be addressing the court ruling in Northern Plains...more
5/19/2020
/ Clean Water Act ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Energy Projects ,
General Permit ,
Keystone XL Pipeline ,
Nationwide Permits (NWPs) ,
Navigable Waters ,
Navigable Waters Protection Rule ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Surface Water ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Vacated ,
Webinars
On May 8, 2020, Ohio EPA issued a public notice for a new general permit, titled Ohio General Permit for Filling Category 1 and Category 2 Isolated Wetlands and Ephemeral Streams. The purpose of the General Permit, as set...more
5/11/2020
/ Clean Water Act ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Deregulation ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Inland Waterways ,
Navigable Waters ,
Trump Administration ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
In a 6-3 opinion issued on April 23, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Clean Water Act regulates activities that release pollutants that are eventually conveyed through groundwater to navigable water. The ruling is...more
4/29/2020
/ Appeals ,
Clean Water Act ,
Direct Discharge ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Functional Equivalent ,
Groundwater ,
Hawaii Wildlife Fund v County of Maui ,
Navigable Waters ,
Permits ,
Point Sources ,
Remand ,
SCOTUS ,
Vacated ,
Waters of the United States
On April 15, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana issued an order with potentially broad-sweeping implications for energy-related projects across the country. ...more
4/21/2020
/ Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Energy & Climate Debates ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Projects ,
Environmental Policies ,
Keystone XL Pipeline ,
Oil & Gas ,
Real Estate Development ,
Remand ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Vacated
H.B. 197, passed by the Ohio Senate and the Ohio House and now awaiting Governor DeWine’s signature, includes several provisions that may impact entities or communities regulated by Ohio EPA. First, Section 27 of H.B. 197...more
Drewes Farms Partnership and State of Ohio v. City of Toledo, Case No. 3:19-cv-434, Doc. 63 (N.D. Ohio Feb. 27, 2020).
The Lake Erie Bill of Rights (LEBOR) was invalidated by U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary of the...more
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency's (Ohio EPA) draft "2020 Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report" was issued and is now available for review and comment through close of business on March 13, 2020....more
On November 14, 2019, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine unveiled his long-awaited H2Ohio Water Quality Plan, a program aimed at reducing phosphorus runoff and harmful algal blooms, improving water infrastructure (including tackling...more
11/19/2019
/ Department of Natural Resources ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Farms ,
Groundwater Management Plan ,
Infrastructure ,
Natural Resources ,
Pollution Control ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Septic Waste ,
State and Local Government ,
State Funding ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Water ,
Water Quality ,
Water Supplies
On June 26, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in Kisor v. Wilkie, and the result is a mixed bag for companies subject to federal regulation. While the Court declined to overrule Auerdeference — the doctrine...more
7/1/2019
/ Administrative Agencies ,
Ambiguous ,
Appeals ,
Auer Deference ,
Kisor v Wilkie ,
Reasonable Interpretations ,
Remand ,
SCOTUS ,
Stare Decisis ,
Vacated ,
Veterans' Benefits
On May 6, 2019, the Ohio EPA Division of Environmental Response and Revitalization issued an early stakeholder outreach public notice, through which it seeks stakeholder input on Ohio EPA’s intent to incorporate recent...more
Two Columbus warehouse owners have filed federal lawsuits against over 40 electronics scrap companies, saying they are to blame for the largest cathode ray tube (CRT) glass stockpile in U.S. history. ...more
In a February 26, 2019, special election, Toledo’s voters passed the Lake Erie Bill of Rights (LEBOR). The LEBOR is an amendment to the City of Toledo’s Charter that creates a new cause of action for the violation of the...more
On December 11, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) announced new rule language to replace the Obama Administration’s 2015 Clean Water Rule...more
Judge Carr issued an order on October 3, 2018, in Environmental Law and Policy Center, et al., v. U.S. EPA, et al., effectively dismissing the litigation and providing no clear path forward for challenges of Ohio EPA’s plan...more
In two opinions issued on September 24, 2018, the Sixth Circuit ruled that discharges of a pollutant to surface waters through groundwater do not require a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, pursuant to...more
On September 17, 2018, Ohio EPA issued its General Permit Authorization for Storm Water Discharges Associated with Construction Activity from Oil and Gas Linear Transmission Line and Gathering Line Installation (the General...more
Ohio EPA has released proposed pretreatment and indirect discharge permit (IDP) rules (OAC 3745-3 and 3745-36, respectively). The existing pretreatment and IDP rules overlap with one another quite significantly, and the IDP...more
On July 11, 2018, Governor John R. Kasich issued Executive Order 2018-09K, “Taking Steps to Protect Lake Erie.” Through Executive Order 2018-09K, Governor Kasich has ordered the director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture,...more
On February 9, 2018, the Ohio EPA issued a public notice of its fifth-generation draft general NPDES permit for the statewide regulation of storm water associated with construction activities (Permit No. OHC000005). ...more