On September 27, 2023, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) published its final 2023 Clean Water Act (“CWA”) Section 401 Water Quality Certification Improvement Rule (2023 Rule), which goes into effect on...more
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court released its highly anticipated opinion in Sackett v Environmental Protection Agency, delineating the appropriate standard to determine waters of the United States (WOTUS) under the federal...more
5/31/2023
/ Certiorari ,
Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Inland Waterways ,
Navigable Waters ,
Popular ,
Sackett v EPA ,
SCOTUS ,
Significant Nexus Test ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
On February 27, 2023, in a much anticipated decision, California’s Second District Court of Appeal overruled the trial court by determining that the State Water Resources Control Board (“State Water Board”) did not violate...more
AB 377, entitled the “California Clean Water Act,” introduced by Assemblymember Rivas in February 2021, includes provisions to eliminate all “impaired waterways” and make all waters in California suitable for drinking,...more
3/8/2021
/ Clean Water Act ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
NPDES ,
Permits ,
Pollution Control ,
Proposed Legislation ,
State Water Boards ,
Storm Water ,
Stormwater Discharge Permits ,
Wastewater ,
Water ,
Water Pollution ,
Water Quality ,
Water Quality Control Boards
For those seeking certainty and bright line tests, the U.S. Supreme Court is apparently not the right venue. On April 23, 2020, the Supreme Court issued a 6-3 majority opinion in County of Maui, Hawaii v. Hawaii Wildlife...more
4/27/2020
/ 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
Regulation of “toxicity” in the State of California has generally been following 3 State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) precedential decisions that require dischargers under an NPDES permit, which have a...more
11/26/2018
/ Clean Water Act ,
Comment Period ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
NPDES ,
Public Comment ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Exposure ,
Water ,
Water Resources Control Board ,
Water Supplies
On August 9, 2018, the United States District Court for the Central District of California held that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) is required to more specifically regulate certain types of...more
9/4/2018
/ Arbitrary and Capricious ,
Clean Water Act ,
Commercial Property Owners ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Industrial Discharges ,
Municipalities ,
NPDES ,
Permits ,
Storm Water ,
Waters of the United States
Ever since President Trump took office in January 2017, several questions have arisen within the environmental community regarding how his administration will change the legal and enforcement priorities of the United States...more
4/12/2018
/ Air Pollution ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Chemicals ,
Clean Air Act ,
Clean Water Act ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Drinking Water ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Hazardous Waste ,
Insecticide ,
Lead ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Sewer Systems ,
State and Local Government ,
Storm Water ,
Superfund ,
Tribal Governments ,
Trucking Regulations ,
Water ,
Water Pollution