The Texas State Soil & Water Conservation Board (Soil Board) is responsible for the abatement and prevention of pollution resulting from agricultural or silvicultural nonpoint source pollution in the state of Texas, as...more
6/24/2020
/ Agricultural Sector ,
Clean Water Act ,
Confidential Information ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
FOIA ,
Freedom of Information ,
Public Information ,
Water ,
Water Conservation ,
Water Management ,
Water Pollution ,
Water Quality ,
Water Supplies
On April 23, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 6-3 opinion in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, which established a new test to determine the permitting requirements under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The case...more
4/24/2020
/ Appeals ,
Clean Water Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
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
In a new effort to clarify the breadth of exemptions for farm animal waste emission reporting, EPA has proposed a rule that exempts such emissions from the reporting requirements under the Emergency Planning and Community...more
11/16/2018
/ Agricultural Sector ,
CERCLA ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
EPCRA ,
Exemptions ,
Farm Animals ,
Farms ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Comment ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Unduly Burdensome ,
Waste
On April 11, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D. C. Circuit vacated a 2008 EPA rule, which had exempted certain agricultural operations from federal air emission reporting requirements...more
5/11/2017
/ Agricultural Sector ,
Air Pollution ,
Appeals ,
CERCLA ,
Chevron Deference ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
EPCRA ,
Exemptions ,
Farms ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Vacated
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
6/6/2016
/ Administrative Appeals ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Final Judgment ,
Hawkes Co v United States Army Corps of Engineers ,
Judicial Review ,
Jurisdictional Determination (JD) ,
Land Developers ,
Permits ,
Property Owners ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 404 ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States
The responsibility for the regulation of water and sewer service, including the oversight of certificates of public convenience and necessity (“CCNs”), was recently transferred from the Texas Commission on Environmental...more
11/4/2015
/ Administrative Authority ,
CCN Decertification ,
Expedited Actions Process ,
Expedited Release ,
Property Owners ,
Public Utility ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Release Agreements ,
Sewer Systems ,
State Regulators ,
Water
A. The Brackish Groundwater Resource Opportunity.
According to the Texas Water Development Board (“TWDB”), more than 2.7 billion acre-feet of brackish groundwater exists within the State of Texas. Texas has numerous...more
The responsibility for the regulation of water and sewer service, including the oversight of certificates of public convenience and necessity (“CCNs”), was recently transferred from the Texas Commission on Environmental...more
On February 5, 2014, several news outlets reported that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") handed over permitting authority for greenhouse gases ("GHGs") to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality...more
On August 23, 2013, the Texas Supreme Court issued a significant decision affirming the administrative discretion of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality ("the Commission") to decide whether or not to grant a...more