[WEBINAR] Fairly (or Unfairly?) Traceable: Are Discharges Through Groundwater Subject to the Clean Water Act?
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
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
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
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
Draft guidance from the US Environmental Protection Agency provides a clearer look at how the agency intends to apply the US Supreme Court's "functional equivalent" analysis to determine when National Pollutant Discharge...more
On Tuesday, December 8, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Draft Guidance Memorandum attempting to place the recent Supreme Court decision in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund “into context...more
On December 8, 2020, U.S. EPA announced issuance of draft guidance to clarify its view of how the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund decision should be applied to its Clean Water Act National...more
On December 12, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) issued draft guidance to clarify the application of the “functional equivalent” test created by the United States Supreme Court in County...more
As we have reported in previous articles, controversy over whether the Clean Water Act (CWA) regulates discharges of pollutants that travel through groundwater into surface waters has led to significant litigation across the...more
The Situation: The Supreme Court held that a discharge through groundwater that is the functional equivalent of a direct discharge to navigable waters requires a Clean Water Act permit. The Result: Some discharges to...more
On April 23 the Supreme Court announced its decision in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund (No. 18-260), which addressed the fundamental issue of what is a discharge to navigable waters requiring a permit under the Clean...more
On 23 April 2020 the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 opinion written by Justice Stephen Breyer, waded carefully into the very-muddied waters of Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisprudence when it issued a new test to determine when the...more
In a busy week for environmental decisions, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled on April 23, 2020 on its second major case, County of Maui v. Hawai’i Wildlife Fund, finding a middle ground in its 6-3 decision on...more
Uncertainty has long reigned over the reach of the federal Clean Water Act, which applies to “navigable waters,” defined by statute only as “waters of the United States.” Over the last several decades of debate about federal...more
The Supreme Court ruled on April 23, 2020 that federal law can require a permit for pollutant discharges that travel through groundwater to surface water. The Court’s ruling establishes a new standard by which a Clean Water...more
Last week, the Supreme Court addressed a longstanding issue about whether pollutants discharged to groundwater but that eventually reach a navigable water of the United States are subject to federal regulation under the Clean...more
On April 23, 2020, the Supreme Court ruled in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund that a federal permit is required under the Clean Water Act (CWA) when a discharge to groundwater is the “functional equivalent” of a...more
On April 23, the U.S. Supreme Court finally answered the question that has plagued environmental attorneys for years with its decision in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund (Slip Op 18-260, April 23, 2020): whether point...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Rather than providing clarity, the Supreme Court introduced substantial uncertainty into the NPDES permitting process involving situations where a point source discharge first enters groundwater and then...more
In rejecting guidance from the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Supreme Court concluded that a discharge to groundwater that reaches navigable waters is subject to the permitting requirements of the Clean Water Act if...more
In a landmark ruling, the United States Supreme Court has held that, under section 301 of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA), a discharge of pollutants from a point source to groundwater is subject to regulation under the CWA,...more
The United States Supreme Court (“SCourt”) issued an April 23rd decision in County of Maui, Hawaii v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, et al. See No. 18-260. The case involves whether, and to what extent, a discharge of pollutants...more
After decades of insisting otherwise and before the U.S. Supreme Court has had a chance to rule on the issue, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took steps to limit its interpretation of the Clean Water Act’s...more
On April 23, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it was making available its Interpretive Statement addressing whether the Clean Water Act’s (CWA) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System...more
On Monday, EPA issued an Interpretive Statement concluding that point source discharges to groundwater are never subject to NPDES permitting requirements. EPA did a good job marshalling its arguments – much better than this...more