New Upstream Pit Permitting Rules — Energy Law Insights
PFAS in Focus: Forever-Engineering With Trent Stober, HDR - Reflections on Water Podcast
On-Demand Webinar | Flood or Drought? A Discussion of the Election’s Potential Legislative Impacts on the Water Sector
[WEBINAR] Fairly (or Unfairly?) Traceable: Are Discharges Through Groundwater Subject to the Clean Water Act?
Water Rights with Eric Garner: Prescriptive Rights
Context is Crucial in Examining BLM’s Proposed Rule for Fracking On Federal Land
Join Troutman Pepper Locke attorneys Jerry Higdon and Case Towslee as they detail the latest waste permitting rules from the Railroad Commission, effective July 1st. This insightful discussion explores the new registration...more
The California Court of Appeal has ruled that preliminary work can begin on the Delta Conveyance Project, a controversial proposal to build a 14-mile underground tunnel to transport water from Northern California southward....more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Environmental Appeals Board (“EAB”) issued a September 12th Order addressing a Petition for Review of two Underground Injection Control Permit decisions EPA Region 8...more
On September 10, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a final rule granting Arizona primacy to administer all classes of underground injection wells under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). This...more
The Arkansas Department of Agriculture announced the next Water Well Construction Committee (“Committee”) will meet on September 10th. The Committee will meet at 9:30 A.M. at the Arkansas Department of Agriculture’s Natural...more
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources (“MDNR”) and Charleville, LLC (“Charleville”) entered into a July 14th Administrative Order on Consent (“AOC”) addressing alleged violations of the Missouri Safe Drinking Water Act...more
Texas produces more than just oil and gas. Every day, millions of gallons of produced water are generated as a byproduct of oil and gas production. Once viewed strictly as a waste product, produced water is now at the center...more
On June 12, 2025, the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board approved a general permit regulating waste discharges from commercial vineyards in the region. The new General Waste Discharge Requirements for Commercial...more
A wave of water-related legislation swept through the Oregon Legislature during the 2025 session. The most controversial water-related bills did not end up passing. In particular, there were three bills that would have...more
Governor Gavin Newsom is pushing to lay the groundwork for building a $20-billion water tunnel in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta before his term expires, and state water regulators are considering whether to grant a...more
State and federal officials move forward plans and policies for water conservation, conveyance, and climate resilience. The winter of 2022-23 brought historic levels of precipitation to California after years of deep...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
On November 20, 2023, a panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Idaho Conservation League v. Poe, No. 22-35978. Therein, the Court upheld its previous interpretation of “discharged” in the context of...more
The District of Columbia Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Proposed Rule) to adopt a new Chapter 16 – Discharge of Groundwater to the Municipal Separate Stormwater Sewer...more
In last year’s Land Use, Environmental & Natural Resources Update 2021 Update, we reported on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in County of Maui v. Hawai’i Wildlife Fund (County of Maui), 590 U.S. __; 140 S. Ct. 2778 (2020),...more
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
The latest season of Clean Water Act (CWA) changes are now streaming from the courts and federal agencies. The Biden administration and lower courts have picked up where prior administrations and the U.S. Supreme Court left...more
Last week, EPA withdrew guidance issued in the waning days of the Trump Administration interpreting the Supreme Court decision in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund. As the masochists who follow the torturous case law we...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
Withdrawal expands “functional equivalent” test for discharges that the Supreme Court established in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has rescinded January 2020 guidance on...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
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
Late yesterday, Federal Judge Susan Oki Mollway, of the District of Hawaii, ruled that the County of Maui needs a Federal Clean Water Act NPDES permit for its groundwater discharge of treated water from its waste water...more
The Arizona’s First Regular Session of the 55th Legislature has been moving along at a pretty fast and steady pace. A total of 40 bills have already been sent to the Governor’s desk; and 32 of those have been signed into law...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