McGirt Uncertainty Extends to Federal Environmental Regulations in Indian Country
Revisiting McGirt: New Legal Developments Challenge Oklahoma’s Landmark Ruling
The Immediate and Lasting Impacts of McGirt: A Novel Ruling for Oklahoma
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers recently announced a revised and final rule amending the definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS) following the Supreme Court decision in Sackett v....more
On May 25, the Supreme Court of the United States significantly narrowed the scope of wetlands protected by the Clean Water Act (CWA or Act). The Court held that only wetlands indistinguishable from Waters of the United...more
In a 9-0 ruling published on May 25, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the U.S. EPA’s and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE's) use of the expansive “significant nexus” test to assert authority over adjacent wetlands as...more
The Supreme Court ends protection for most wetlands in the United States... In a sweeping decision, the Supreme Court last week eliminated federal protection for more than half the wetlands in the United States. (Sackett...more
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
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rulemaking on Jan. 18, 2023, revising the definition of "Waters of the United States" (WOTUS) within the Corps1 and...more
The Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Army Corps”) delivered on their commitment to issue a new rule defining “waters of the United States” (“WOTUS”) by the end of 2022, releasing a...more
In 2022, the on-going debate will continue over the hotly contested definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS), a phrase that determines the scope of federal jurisdiction over streams, wetlands and other waterbodies...more
On December 7, 2021, the most recent proposed revision to the Clean Water Act’s term, “Waters of the United States” was published in the Federal Register. (See 86 FR 69372.) Comments on this proposal must be submitted by...more
The Idaho family that upended the Obama administration’s wetlands regime in the Supreme Court is back, much to the dismay of the Biden administration. On Monday, the Supreme Court issued a surprise order agreeing to review,...more
On January 24th, the U.S. Supreme Court granted Certiorari in Sackett, Michael, et ux. v. EPA, et al. on the limited question of “[w]hether the Ninth Circuit set forth the proper test for determining whether wetlands are...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
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency published a rule postponing the effective date of the Clean Water Rule for two years, until February 6, 2020....more
The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a proposed rule on June 27, 2017, that will rescind the Obama administration’s 2015 Clean Water Rule and recodify the pre-2015 regulations that...more
On October 9th, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a nationwide stay precluding implementation of controversial new rules issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of...more
On May 27, 2015, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“U.S. EPA”) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) issued their highly anticipated final revision to the definition of “waters of the United...more
Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a prepublication version of its rule defining the waters of the United States, also referred to as the Clean Water Rule (the Rule). The EPA issued this Rule to...more