As a result of the North Carolina Farm Act of 2023 (Session Law 2023-63), North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ or the Department) may now only regulate wetlands that are subject to federal Clean Water...more
On December 30, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (collectively Agencies) announced the issuance of a final rule defining “waters of the United States” (WOTUS), a key...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 CLEAN WATER ACT AND SECTION 401 - In 1948, Congress passed the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) as the first rendition of a law intended to address growing pollution of American waters. By 1972, increased...more
Twenty-two agricultural organizations submitted February 7th comments to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) addressing the federal agencies’ joint proposed rule to...more
Like everything else today, the definition of “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act (CWA) ebbs and flows depending on which political party holds office. However, while the Biden Administration gets...more
Once again, developers and other interested parties are grappling with yet another District Court decision regarding the definition of Waters of the United States. On August 30, 2021, the Federal District of Arizona vacated...more
On August 30, 2021, the United States District Court for the District of Arizona issued an order vacating the Navigable Waters Protection Rule and remanding the rule back to U.S. EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The...more
Yesterday, a federal judge vacated the Trump Administration's Navigable Waters Protection Rule (“NWPR”) that had narrowed the scope of federal jurisdiction over wetlands. ...more
Yesterday, Judge Rosemary Marquez vacated the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, the misnomer also known as the Trump WOTUS rule. In response to this citizens’ suit challenging NWPR, the Biden EPA and Army Corps of Engineers...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) announced on Aug. 4, 2021, the start of a long anticipated rulemaking process to revise the regulatory definition of "waters of the U.S."...more
A South Carolina federal judge issued an order late last week allowing the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, the Trump administration’s “waters of the United States” rule, to remain in place while the U.S. Environmental...more
On Wednesday, July 14, 2021, a federal court in South Carolina allowed the Trump administration’s Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR), defining the scope of Clean Water Act jurisdiction, to remain in place while the U.S....more
Proposed regulatory changes will increase the extent of lands throughout the country that will be designated, and regulated, as wetlands. On June 9, 2021, the Department of the Army and the Environmental Protection Agency...more
On June 9, 2021, the Biden administration announced its intent to repeal and replace the Trump administration’s 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule, which defines which waterbodies constitute “waters of the United States”...more
This is Part 2 in a five-part series addressing the recent changes in legal standards regulating water resources in the United States. Part 2 examines how the phrase “waters of the United States” is now defined under new...more
On Monday, June 22, 2020, the Trump Administration's contested Navigable Waters Protection Rule (the "Rule") defining the scope of federally jurisdictional "waters of the United States," took effect in every state except...more
On June 19, 2020, Judge William Martinez of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado entered an administrative stay of the recently issued Clean Water Act (“CWA”) rule that reduces the ambit of waters within the...more
In these days of working from home and managing countless other demands on our time, we offer this post to help you decide whether to add the latest Clean Water Act (CWA) cases and rules to your must-see legal watch list....more
On May 8, 2020, Ohio EPA issued a public notice for a new general permit, titled Ohio General Permit for Filling Category 1 and Category 2 Isolated Wetlands and Ephemeral Streams. The purpose of the General Permit, as set...more
Multiple environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Conservation Law Foundation, and Defenders of Wildlife, have sued the US Environmental Protection Agency and US Army Corps of Engineers over...more
In the ongoing saga of the Clean Water Act’s so-called “Waters of the United States” or WOTUS rule, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) announced changes to the definition of...more
On April 21, EPA published the revised definition of “Waters of the United States,” or “WOTUS,” in the Federal Register. WOTUS is a lynchpin phrase in the Clean Water Act that determines the jurisdictional reach of multiple...more
On April 21, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers published the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (the “Rule”) in the Federal Register. ...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency and United States Corps of Engineers (collectively “EPA”) published on April 21st the final new rule addressing the Clean Water Act definition of Waters of the United States...more