The Agency Is Looking to Sackett v. EPA for a More ‘Durable’ Definition -
From Obama to Trump to Biden, each of the last three administrations has directed the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) to...more
When the Supreme Court issued its decision in City & County of San Francisco v. EPA on March 4, 2025, it may have saved San Francisco $10 billion dollars in penalties sought by the United States Environmental Protection...more
The Tenth Circuit became the second federal appellate court—after the Ninth Circuit—to analyze how federal district courts should evaluate whether a discharge of pollutants to groundwater is the “functional equivalent” of a...more
On Aug. 29, 2023, the Biden administration issued a prepublication version of yet another final Clean Water Act rule (“Conforming Rule”) revising the definition of “waters of the United States” (“WOTUS”) in response to the...more
9/1/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Inland Waterways ,
Navigable Waters ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Sackett ,
Sackett v EPA ,
SCOTUS ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
Biden Administration Publishes Final WOTUS Rule In Advance of Supreme Court’s WOTUS Decision In Sackett v. EPA Yesterday, the Biden Administration published a final rule (Final Rule) revising the definition of “waters of the...more
Maui has finally made its way to Colorado. In what appears to be the first application of County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, 140 S. Ct. 1462 (2020) in the state, the District of Colorado recently held that certain...more
More changes are ahead for entities seeking federal authorization for projects that may impact waters of the United States. On June 9, 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) published a proposed rule that would...more
Entities seeking federal authorization for infrastructure projects that may impact waters of the United States must obtain a Section 401 certification under the Trump administration’s narrowed Section 401 certification...more
Proposed regulatory changes will increase the extent of lands throughout the country that will be designated, and regulated, as wetlands. On June 9, 2021, the Department of the Army and the Environmental Protection Agency...more
6/11/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Clean Water Act ,
Clean Water Rule ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Final Rules ,
Groundwater ,
Navigable Waters ,
Navigable Waters Protection Rule ,
Storm Water ,
Surface Water ,
Trump Administration ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States
On June 19, 2020, Judge William Martinez of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado entered an administrative stay of the recently issued Clean Water Act (“CWA”) rule that reduces the ambit of waters within the...more
The U.S. Supreme Court issued on April 23, 2020, a significant and controversial Clean Water Act (“CWA”) decision in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund et al. As summarized previously, the issue presented was whether the...more
4/28/2020
/ 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
In response to the Ninth Circuit’s recent opinion in Hawai’i Wildlife Fund v. County of Maui, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) is now seeking public comments on the proper scope of its authority under the...more
On Feb. 1, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a highly anticipated decision in Hawai’i Wildlife Fund v. County of Maui, No. 15-17447 (9th Cir. Feb. 1, 2018). At issue was whether the County of Maui...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently issued a long-awaited ruling confirming the legality of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA’s”) Water Transfers Rule in Catskill Mountains Chapter of Trout...more