[WEBINAR] Fairly (or Unfairly?) Traceable: Are Discharges Through Groundwater Subject to the Clean Water Act?
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
Several environmental organizations sent the following document to Rosemont Copper Company (“Rosemont”) on April 14th: 60-Day Notice of Intent to Bring Citizen Suit for Rosemont Copper Company’s Violations of the Clean...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (“Fourth Circuit”) addressed in a March 30th Opinion the scope of the federal Clean Water Act Permit Shield. See Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, et al. v. Red...more
New Source Review (“NSR”) remains a focus of enforcement for EPA. Between last year and now, EPA finalized eight settlements with manufacturers and one with a utility, asserting NSR violations for allegedly not obtaining a...more
A trilogy of recent federal and state enforcement actions show just how far agencies will go to enforce environmental regulations. Now may be a good time for a compliance audit....more
On February 1, 2018, the 9th Circuit issued its ruling in Hawai’i Wildlife Fund v. County of Maui that expands coverage under the Federal Clean Water Act (CWA) to discharges of contaminants to groundwater that travel through...more
On January 5th, the Maine Board of Environmental Protection (Board) unanimously voted to repeal existing Chapter 200 Metallic Mineral Exploration, Advanced Exploration and Mining rules and adopt new Chapter 200 rules to...more
NEW REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS - Federal - - Program Requirement Revisions Related to the Public Water System Supervision Programs for Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont - EPA is giving notice that...more
Late last month, we noted that a permittee may not rely on the permit shield defense unless it has clearly informed the permitting agency of the nature of its discharge. Now we see the flip side. In Wisconsin Resources...more
The Clean Water Act permit shield provision provides that compliance with an NPDES permit constitutes compliance with the CWA. What happens the permit does not mention a particular pollutant? In Southern Appalachian...more