The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Aug. 29, 2023, issued a final rulemaking revising the definition of "Waters of the United States" (WOTUS) within Corps1 and EPA2...more
For the first time in modern history, the scope of federal regulation of wetlands and waters is strikingly clear . . . and narrow. In Sackett v. EPA, the U.S. Supreme Court drew the brightest and most narrow regulatory...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
Will private landowners’ property fall under more regulation as part of the definition of “waters of the United States?” Will land near, but that does not front, a large body of water be subject to the wetlands regulations of...more
On Monday, January 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in the case of Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 19-35469 to decide “[w]hether the Ninth Circuit set forth the proper test for determining...more
What was old is now new again as the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) announced on September 3, 2021 a reversion to a pre-2015 definition of Waters of...more
In late August, a South Carolina federal court was asked to rule in favor of EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and dismiss a Clean Water Act (CWA) lawsuit brought by environmental groups challenging EPA’s recent...more
On April 21, 2020, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) published in the Federal Register the so-called “Step Two” rule revising the definition of...more