[WEBINAR] Fairly (or Unfairly?) Traceable: Are Discharges Through Groundwater Subject to the Clean Water Act?
The landmark decision alters the NPDES permit landscape, shifting the focus to specific actions over general outcomes....more
In its recent decision in San Francisco v. EPA, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a Ninth Circuit interpretation of the Clean Water Act (“CWA”), the second case in just two years where the Court has disagreed with the EPA’s...more
On March 4, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in City & County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency and clarified the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ("EPA") and state...more
On March 4, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that prohibits the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA” or “the Agency”) from setting qualitative limits based on the condition of the “receiving waters” that...more
On March 4, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision in City and County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency, narrowing the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority under the Clean Water Act...more
In the US Supreme Court’s first post-Chevron decision involving the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the Supreme Court found against EPA, invalidating ‘end result’ NPDES permit requirements....more
On March 4, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in the case City and County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency, in which it held that “end-result” requirements routinely imposed by the U.S....more
In a 5-4 ruling on March 4, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lacks authority to impose Clean Water Act (CWA) conditions in National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)...more
The Supreme Court of the United States (“Court”) issued an Opinion on March 4th in the case styled: City and County of San Francisco, California v. Environmental Protection Agency. See No. 23-753....more
On March 4, 2025 the Supreme Court overturned the 9th Circuit to rule in favor of the City of San Francisco in a landmark Clean Water Act case. The EPA authorizes states to issue National Pollutant Discharge Elimination...more
The Arkansas and 24 other State Attorney Generals (collectively, “Amici Curiae”) filed on October 28th an Amicus Brief supporting a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court to address a Clean Water...more
Sam Hess of Inside EPA and many others are writing about EPA's Halloween Trick or Treat – the publication of a draft Clean Water Act NPDES General Permit that would apply to “commercial, industrial and institutional”...more
The United States Supreme Court isn't done with the Clean Water Act and EPA's interpretation of it. This month the City and County of San Francisco asked the nation's highest court to overturn a split Ninth Circuit Court of...more
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
When EPA published its most recent rule specifying the role of States and Tribes in the Federal permitting of discharges into Waters of the United States, I predicted it was only a matter of time before we'd see another...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
Just before the Thanksgiving holiday EPA issued draft guidance regarding when a discharge of a “pollutant” to groundwater is the “functional equivalent” of a discharge to a Water of the United States requiring a NPDES permit...more
The Clean Water Act (“CWA”) regulates the discharge of certain “pollutants” into waters of the United States (“WOTUS”). Should shrimp trawlers be subject to the regulatory framework under the CWA when they return “bycatch”...more
I'm surprised to see the Biden Administration EPA moving forward right now with a rule proposed during the Trump Administration to allow states to take over responsibility for the permitting of "dredge and fill" activities...more
The United States Supreme Court decided last week in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency that a word does not mean what the dictionary, Congress, or two federal agencies have for 45 years understood it to mean....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
A United States District Court (W.D. Washington) (“Court”) addressed in an October 31st Order a Clean Water Act citizen suit action seeking an injunction to remedy alleged illegal discharge of pollutants into a lake and its...more
What Happened: West Virginia v. EPA - In West Virginia v. EPA, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Jones Day client, the North American Coal Corporation, and determined that the EPA did not have clear authorization from...more
On June 30, 2022, the United States Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in West Virginia v. EPA, a case challenging the scope of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA’s”) authority to regulate...more
On June 30, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court decided West Virginia et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency, holding that the EPA lacks authority under Section 7411(d) of the Clean Air Act to limit greenhouse gas emissions from...more