The Association of Clean Water Administrators (“ACWA”) published in its current newsletter a link to described as follows: ACWA rules chart updated to reflect current and long term relevant EPA clean water related actions....more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) issued a report titled: Half the States Did Not Include Climate Adaption or Related Resilience Efforts in their Clean Water...more
The Association of Clean Water Administrators (“ACWA”) submitted March 23rd Comments to a Proposed EPA Rule styled: Clean Water Act Effluent Limitations Guidelines and Standard for the - ...more
On Wednesday, April 6, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision stayed a Northern District of California Court decision that both remanded and vacated EPA Trump-era rules regarding water quality certification of projects...more
A combination of federal wetland regulatory actions presents substantial uncertainty for regulated parties as they navigate wetland delineation and permitting processes for their projects. These concerns are compounded in...more
The proposed definition would significantly extend the regulatory scope of the Clean Water Act. On December 7, 2021, the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Army Corps of Engineers (collectively, the Agencies)...more
The federal Clean Water Act created federal jurisdiction over “navigable waters” defined as “waters of the United States” (WOTUS). Since becoming law in 1972, debate over what is, and is not, WOTUS has been robust....more
The regulatory definition of "waters of the United States" (WOTUS), a key term in the Clean Water Act (CWA) establishing the scope of federal jurisdiction, once again is changing. The most recent definition, promulgated in...more
In 2005 the Corps of Engineers adopted a Regulatory Guidance Letter (RGL) providing that an “approved jurisdictional determination” (AJD) “will remain valid for a period of five years, unless new information warrants revision...more
On Wednesday, July 14, 2021, a federal court in South Carolina allowed the Trump administration’s Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR), defining the scope of Clean Water Act jurisdiction, to remain in place while the U.S....more
Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) sent a June 21st letter to the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (collectively “EPA”) on behalf of the Senate Environment and Public...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
With the 2020 election now called, though yet to be conceded, questions abound as to what the environmental regulatory landscape may look like under a Biden/Harris administration. For California, we don’t expect much of a...more
Following years of discussion, administrative rulemaking, and multi-state litigation, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and Army Corps of Engineers (“ACOE”) have published a new regulatory definition of waters of...more
On April 21, 2020, the EPA and USACE (jointly the "Agencies") had published in the Federal Register the final rule, "Navigable Waters Protection Rule" (NWPR), which has a scheduled effective date of June 22, 2020. Thus, what...more
On April 21, 2020, the United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") and Army Corps of Engineers ("Corps") completed step two of the two-step "repeal and replace" process ordered by President Trump in 2017 by...more
On January 23, 2020, the Trump Administration issued a final rule revising the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the federal Clean Water Act (CWA). The Navigable Waters Protection Rule narrows the...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
On January 23, EPA Administrator Wheeler announced the final rulemaking for the revised definition of “Waters of the United States,” a key phrase in the Clean Water Act that delineates the extent of federal jurisdiction over...more
On Jan. 23, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released revised rules defining what constitute waters of the United States under federal Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction. The rule, entitled the Navigable Water...more
The two-step regulatory process initiated in 2017 by EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (together, the “Agencies”) to revise the regulatory definition of “waters of the United States” (“WOTUS”) continues its methodical...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) published a rule on October 23, 2019, repealing the Clean Water Rule promulgated by the Obama administration in 2015. The rule, which...more
We are on the eve of a new regulatory definition of "waters of the United States" for the Clean Water Act. The United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") and Army Corps of Engineers ("Corps") completed step one...more