News & Analysis as of

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Waters of the United States Discharge of Pollutants

Verrill

Better Communication Among Regulators and the Regulated Can Improve Outcomes for Wastewater Permittees

Verrill on

As our understanding of the environment and anthropogenic impact grows, protection efforts increasingly spawn regulation. Media coverage of perceived harms to health and the environment and well-funded advocacy by...more

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Confronting Regulatory Fluidity in the Post-Maui and Post-Sackett World of Water Regulation

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

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

Tenth Circuit Weighs In on Maui’s “Functional Equivalent” Test

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

Mintz

Now a Federal Judge in Louisiana will determine the validity of EPA's interpretation of Section 401 of the Clean Water Act

Mintz on

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

Mintz

EPA's new Maui Functional Equivalence Guidance is guidance in name only as confusion continues to reign over the reach of the...

Mintz on

Just before the Thanksgiving holiday EPA issued draft guidance regarding when a discharge of a “pollutant” to groundwater is the “functional equivalent” of a discharge to a Water of the United States requiring a NPDES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

Cranfill Sumner LLP

Fourth Circuit Limits Reach of Federal Regulation Under the “Major Questions” Doctrine as it Relieves Shrimp Trawlers from Clean...

Cranfill Sumner LLP on

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

Mintz

Surprising to see EPA now taking steps to make it easier for states to take over the Federal Government's dredge and fill permit...

Mintz on

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

Verrill

Supreme Court Ignores Dictionary, Limits Clean Water Act

Verrill on

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

Akerman LLP

WOTUS, SCOTUS, and POTUS—Act III (Or Is it Act IV?)

Akerman LLP on

Section 404 of the Clean Water Act of 1972, 33 U.S.C. Section 1251 et seq., prohibits the discharge of dredged or fill material into “navigable waters” without a permit. Section 502(7) of that act defines “navigable waters”...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

EPA Publishes Final Rule Revising Definition of “Waters of the United States”

Husch Blackwell LLP on

On January 18, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and the Department of the Army published a new final rule to re-define “waters of the United States” (“WOTUS”) under the Federal Clean Water Act (“CWA”)....more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Turbulence Ahead for the Clean Water Act: Agencies Redefine “Waters of the United States” as SCOTUS Prepares to Rule in Sackett v....

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Wednesday published a final rule defining “Waters of the United States,” or WOTUS, which determines the extent of federal regulatory authority...more

Mintz

EPA's Science Advisory Board says EPA's definition of Waters of the United States is supported by science but will that matter to...

Mintz on

A little over a month ago EPA's Science Advisory Board decided "EPA could benefit from SAB review of the science supporting [EPA's] proposed definition of Waters of the United States.” As many of you know, EPA's proposal is...more

Mintz

Will Rogers, Farmers and Waters of the United States

Mintz on

The social commentator Will Rogers famously said that a "farmer has to be an optimist or he wouldn’t still be a farmer." Those words certainly ring true when one reads EPA's Farm, Ranch, and Rural Communities Advisory...more

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,...

Waters of the United States/Clean Water Act: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency/Corps of Engineers Proposed Rule

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

Mintz

The end of the road in Maui? - October 2021

Mintz on

Traveling the long and winding road to Hana in Maui is one of the most beautiful experiences one can have in the United States. I'm not sure anyone would say the same thing about the long and winding litigation road taken to...more

Stinson LLP

How Can We Chart a Course on Navigable Waters?

Stinson LLP on

Since the U.S. Supreme Court decided the County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund case in April 2020, the legal landscape of "navigable waters of the U.S." has eroded quickly. With Maui, the Supreme Court created a test for...more

Snell & Wilmer

U.S. House Passes PFAS Action Act of 2021

Snell & Wilmer on

On Wednesday July 21, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the PFAS Action Act of 2021. The bill, H.R. 2467, passed 241-183 demonstrating its bipartisan support, with twenty-three Republicans joining their...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law

Maui Needs a NPDES Permit; What’s Next for WOTUS?

Last week, District Judge Susan Mollway ruled that the County of Maui must obtain a NPDES permit for discharges to groundwater by the Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility. It is the first trial court decision applying the...more

Mintz

Much More Clean Water Act Enforcement Threatened, But EPA Role Remains Murky

Mintz on

Yesterday the Government Accountability Office issued a lengthy report on enforcement of the NPDES provisions of the Federal Clean Water Act permitting discharges to Waters of the United States.  Many of you know that all but...more

Lippes Mathias LLP

EPA And U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Seek to Redefine “Waters of the United States” . . . Again

Lippes Mathias LLP on

On June 9, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (collectively the Agencies) announced their intent to initiate a regulatory rulemaking to roll back the Trump...more

Stoel Rives - Environmental Law Blog

State Water Board Now Receiving Public Comments on Its Proposed Reissuance of the Statewide NPDES Construction Stormwater General...

The State Water Resources Control Board (“Water Board”) is now receiving public comments on its proposed reissuance of the statewide National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) Construction Stormwater General...more

Williams Mullen

EPA Issues Clean Water Act Guidance Regarding Discharges to Groundwater

Williams Mullen on

Section 402 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) prohibits the discharge of any pollutant from any point source to navigable waters (“Waters of the United States” or “WOTUS”) unless authorized by a permit (Section 402 NPDES Permits)....more

Allen Matkins

California Environmental Law & Policy Update - March 2021

Allen Matkins on

U.S. EPA drops challenge of Redwood City salt ponds' protection under Clean Water Act - SFGate – February 26 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last Friday withdrew an appeal filed by the Trump...more

K&L Gates LLP

Clean Water Act Permits for Discharges to Groundwater: EPA Issues Guidance on County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund

K&L Gates LLP on

On 14 January 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a guidance memorandum on the application of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 23 April 2020 decision in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund (Maui)....more

Williams Mullen

Don’t Slip and Fall into Noncompliance: EPA’s Proposed Criminal Negligence Standard under the Clean Water Act

Williams Mullen on

The Clean Water Act (CWA) provides various means of enforcement against violators of its permitting programs, including sanctions for those guilty of criminal negligence. The chief programs in this regard are the National...more

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