[WEBINAR] Fairly (or Unfairly?) Traceable: Are Discharges Through Groundwater Subject to the Clean Water Act?
Both regulators and the regulated community must remain alert to accommodate the constantly changing regulatory scheme created in the post-Sackett world. The application of Maui and Sackett in recent months confirms the...more
November was an eventful month for the Clean Water Act (CWA). The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued two decisions last month—which will apply to cases and matters in California and other states within the Ninth...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) is issuing for public comment draft guidance on applying the United States Supreme Court decision in County of Maui vs. Hawaii Wildlife Fund. EPA had previously...more
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed a district court’s dismissal of environmental plaintiffs’ claim that shrimp trawlers require either a Section 404 or National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Corps of Engineers (collectively “EPA”) announced on November 19th a revised definition of waters of the United States (“WOTUS”). The agencies are...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) rescinded a guidance document it had previously issued titled: Applying the Supreme Court’s County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund Decision in the Clean Water Act...more
In an ACOEL blog posted on July 27, 2021, Seth Jaffe expressed his support for the Supreme Court’s majority opinion in the Maui case and the subsequent ruling by the District Court. In Maui, the Supreme Court held that an...more
Late last year, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued a draft guidance intended to assist regulated entities and permitting authorities in applying the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in County of Maui, Hawaii v....more
Draft guidance from the US Environmental Protection Agency provides a clearer look at how the agency intends to apply the US Supreme Court's "functional equivalent" analysis to determine when National Pollutant Discharge...more
On December 8, 2020, U.S. EPA announced issuance of draft guidance to clarify its view of how the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund decision should be applied to its Clean Water Act National...more
On December 12, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) issued draft guidance to clarify the application of the “functional equivalent” test created by the United States Supreme Court in County...more
Jamie Ewing (Environmental Assessment Director, Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority), Allan Gates and Jordan Wimpy (Mitchell Williams Law Firm) undertook an Arkansas Environmental Federation webinar presentation on May...more
As we have reported in previous articles, controversy over whether the Clean Water Act (CWA) regulates discharges of pollutants that travel through groundwater into surface waters has led to significant litigation across the...more
The Situation: The Supreme Court held that a discharge through groundwater that is the functional equivalent of a direct discharge to navigable waters requires a Clean Water Act permit. The Result: Some discharges to...more
On April 23 the Supreme Court announced its decision in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund (No. 18-260), which addressed the fundamental issue of what is a discharge to navigable waters requiring a permit under the Clean...more
On 23 April 2020 the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 opinion written by Justice Stephen Breyer, waded carefully into the very-muddied waters of Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisprudence when it issued a new test to determine when the...more
In a busy week for environmental decisions, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled on April 23, 2020 on its second major case, County of Maui v. Hawai’i Wildlife Fund, finding a middle ground in its 6-3 decision on...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
On April 23, 2020, the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, 590 U. S. ____ (2020), holding that, when pollutants originate from a point source, but are conveyed to...more
The Supreme Court ruled on April 23, 2020 that federal law can require a permit for pollutant discharges that travel through groundwater to surface water. The Court’s ruling establishes a new standard by which a Clean Water...more
Last week, the Supreme Court addressed a longstanding issue about whether pollutants discharged to groundwater but that eventually reach a navigable water of the United States are subject to federal regulation under the Clean...more
On April 23, 2020, the Supreme Court ruled in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund that a federal permit is required under the Clean Water Act (CWA) when a discharge to groundwater is the “functional equivalent” of a...more
On April 23, the U.S. Supreme Court finally answered the question that has plagued environmental attorneys for years with its decision in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund (Slip Op 18-260, April 23, 2020): whether point...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Rather than providing clarity, the Supreme Court introduced substantial uncertainty into the NPDES permitting process involving situations where a point source discharge first enters groundwater and then...more
In rejecting guidance from the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Supreme Court concluded that a discharge to groundwater that reaches navigable waters is subject to the permitting requirements of the Clean Water Act if...more