In City and County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency, 604 U.S. ___, 145 S. Ct. 704 (2025), in a 5-4 decision issued on March 4, the Supreme Court of the United States struck down two provisions in San...more
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
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. 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
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
The Environmental Protection Agency issued a final rule June 26, 2019, revising the agency’s Freedom of Information Act regulations. According to EPA, those regulations, last updated in 2002, required revision to comply with...more
7/22/2019
/ Appeals ,
Confidential Information ,
Congressional Intent ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Exemptions ,
Final Rules ,
FOIA ,
Food Marketing Institute v Argus Leader Media ,
Motion to Compel ,
Private Commercial or Financial Information ,
Protected Disclosures ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Substantial-Competitive-Harm Test ,
Trade Secrets
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers announced a proposed rule to redefine the term “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act on December 11, 2018. The proposed rule, which awaits...more
12/18/2018
/ Bright-Line Rule ,
Certiorari ,
Clean Water Act ,
Clean Water Rule ,
Comment Period ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Jurisdiction ,
NEPA ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Proposed Rules ,
SCOTUS ,
Trump Administration ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Water ,
Waters of the United States
In a unanimous decision with immediate repercussions for the administration of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the U.S. Supreme Court held that an area is eligible for designation as critical habitat under the ESA only if...more
11/30/2018
/ Appeals ,
Conservation ,
Critical Habitat ,
Economic Impact Analysis ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Judicial Review ,
Private Property ,
SCOTUS ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
US Fish and Wildlife Service ,
Weyerhaeuser Company v United States Fish and Wildlife Service
In a unanimous decision on January 22, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that challenges to the Obama administration’s 2015 Clean Water Rule must be brought in federal district courts rather than directly in the courts of appeals....more
1/26/2018
/ Appeals ,
Case Consolidation ,
Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Exclusive Jurisdiction ,
National Association of Manufacturers v DOD ,
NPDES ,
Proposed Rules ,
SCOTUS ,
Trump Administration ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on May 31, 2016 that an approved jurisdictional determination issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under the Clean Water Act is a final agency action subject to judicial review. Hawkes Co.,...more
6/2/2016
/ Administrative Appeals ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Hawkes Co v United States Army Corps of Engineers ,
Judicial Review ,
Jurisdictional Determination (JD) ,
Land Developers ,
Permits ,
Property Owners ,
SCOTUS ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
The U.S. Supreme Court decided last week to review a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit that jurisdictional determinations under the Clean Water Act are final agency actions subject to judicial...more