The U.S. Supreme Court, on May 25, 2023, narrowed the reach of the Clean Water Act, in the latest judicial effort to define the “waters of the United States” that Congress intended to regulate. Sackett v. Environmental...more
Governor Gavin Newsom announced an ambitious and wide-ranging plan on May 19 to expedite the development of important infrastructure projects across the state, with the twin goals of building California’s clean energy future...more
In a notable decision interpreting the California Endangered Species Act (CESA), a California court of appeal ruled that insects are eligible for listing as threatened, endangered, or candidate species under the act. See...more
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) issued a proposed rule to revoke the Service’s January 7, 2021, final rule defining the scope of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) as it applies to conduct resulting in the...more
The secretary of the interior issued two Secretarial Orders on April 16, 2021, that provide early indications of the Biden administration’s approach to the environmental review process for infrastructure projects under the...more
4/22/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
CEQ ,
Department of the Interior ,
Environmental Assessments ,
Environmental Impact Statements ,
Executive Orders ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
NEPA ,
New Guidance ,
New Regulations
Earlier this month, a report from the American Society of Civil Engineers gave America’s infrastructure an overall grade of C-. The nation’s water infrastructure fell below that average with a C- for drinking water...more
On March 22, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in a case that upheld President Obama’s designation under the Antiquities Act of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument in the northern...more
The Freedom of Information Act requires that federal agencies make records available to the public upon request, unless the records fall within one of nine exemptions. “Exemption 5” covers inter-agency or intra-agency...more
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers published in the Federal Register changes to its Clean Water Act Nationwide Permits (NWPs). The final rule, published on January 13, 2021, reissues 12 existing NWPs and issues four new NWPs....more
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service adopted a final regulation on December 18, 2020, to establish a process and the criteria for excluding areas from critical habitat designations under the Endangered Species Act. The final...more
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service on December 16, 2020, jointly adopted a final regulation providing a one-sentence definition for the term “habitat” under the Endangered Species...more
In a widely watched case, the Sacramento Superior Court court ruled that insects are not eligible for listing under the California Endangered Species Act. Almond Alliance of California v. California Department of Fish and...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently adopted a final regulation governing the issuance of guidance documents, which the agency historically has used to provide direction to agency staff, other governmental...more
The U.S. Supreme Court delivered near-term relief to project developers on June 6, reinstating one of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ key nationwide Clean Water Act permits in U.S. Army Corps of Eng’rs v. Northern Plains...more
Pressing ahead on his efforts to reduce delays in federal approvals necessary for major infrastructure projects, President Donald Trump on June 4 called for more streamlining in another executive order, Accelerating the...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a final rule on June 1, 2020, intended to limit the ability of states and tribes to block or delay projects requiring a water quality certification under Section 401 of the...more
Uncertainty has long reigned over the reach of the federal Clean Water Act, which applies to “navigable waters,” defined by statute only as “waters of the United States.” Over the last several decades of debate about federal...more
5/1/2020
/ 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 ,
NPDES ,
Permits ,
Point Sources ,
Remand ,
SCOTUS ,
Vacated ,
Waters of the United States
Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order on April 22 suspending for a period of 60 days (1) the filing, posting, notice, and public access requirements related to certain notices under the California Environmental...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers have jointly issued new regulations to redefine what types of water bodies are covered by the Clean Water Act. Dubbed the “Navigable Waters Protection...more
The Clean Water Act applies by its terms to “navigable waters,” which the act defines merely as “waters of the United States.” A clear and consistent definition of this critically important phrase, which demarcates the...more
1/29/2020
/ Clean Water Act ,
Clean Water Rule ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Final Rules ,
Inland Waterways ,
Jurisdiction ,
Navigable Waters ,
New Regulations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has upheld the approval of a utility-scale wind facility in California, rejecting claims that the Bureau of Indian Affairs violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the...more
A new final regulation issued on September 12, 2019 by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers repeals the Obama administration’s 2015 “Clean Water Rule,” but does little to clear up the...more
9/18/2019
/ Clean Water Act ,
Clean Water Rule ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Final Rules ,
Inland Waterways ,
Jurisdiction ,
Navigable Waters ,
New Regulations ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States
A decision by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia issued on August 21, 2019, highlights the continuing confusion over the definition of “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act. The...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has issued an important decision that narrowly interprets the types of governmental decisions that may be challenged in court as “final agency action.” In California Communities...more
8/28/2019
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Air Pollution ,
Clean Air Act ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Government Agencies ,
National Emissions Standards ,
New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) ,
Policy Memorandums ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
US Army Corps of Engineers
The Environmental Protection Agency issued a 163-page proposed rule on August 9, 2019, to clarify the substantive and procedural requirements for water quality certifications under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act....more
8/19/2019
/ Certification Requirements ,
Clean Water Act ,
Comment Period ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Executive Orders ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Scope of Review ,
Section 401 ,
Trump Administration ,
Water Quality ,
Waters of the United States