News & Analysis as of May 31, 2025

Regulatory Reform

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The United States Supreme Court is the highest court of the United States and is charged with interpreting federal law, including the United States Constitution. The Court's docket is largely discretionary with only a limited number of cases granted review each term. The Court is comprised of one chief justice and eight associate justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate to hold lifetime positions. less -

Trump Administration Pursues Deregulation in a Trio of Orders

Latham & Watkins LLP on 4/25/2025

The orders span various sectors and aim to introduce sunset provisions into regulations and eliminate regulations deemed unlawful or anti-competitive....more

White House Issues Memorandum Directing Federal Agencies to Repeal Regulations Deemed to be Unlawful Pursuant to Recent U.S....

Troutman Pepper Locke on 4/16/2025

On April 9, the White House issued a memorandum directing federal executive departments and agencies to repeal regulations deemed unlawful pursuant to certain U.S. Supreme Court decisions. This directive aims to address...more

Administrative Law Report - April 2025, Vol. 6

Clark Hill PLC on 4/14/2025

Welcome to your monthly rundown of all things administrative law, where we highlight all the happenings you may have missed. ...more

On WOTUS Notice: EPA Gives Notice of Yet Another Clean Water Act Rule

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck on 3/27/2025

The Agency Is Looking to Sackett v. EPA for a More ‘Durable’ Definition - From Obama to Trump to Biden, each of the last three administrations has directed the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) to...more

Corps and EPA Rescind Biden Wetland Guidance – Move to Revise “Waters of the United States” Definition

Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP on 3/26/2025

On March 12, 2025, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a Federal Register notice stating their intent to review the definition of “waters of the United States” (“WOTUS”), which...more

Corps Permitting Developments Under a Second Trump Term

Nossaman LLP on 3/21/2025

Just two months into President Trump’s second term, project applicants are navigating a series of changes to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404 permitting. Upon his inauguration, President...more

New Guidance for Defining the ‘Waters of the United States’

Goldberg Segalla on 3/20/2025

The Environmental Protection Agency announced March 10 it will be revising the definition for the Waters of the United States Rule (WOTUS). In a news release it said, “[t]he agencies will move quickly to ensure that a revised...more

U.S. Supreme Court Limits EPA Clean Water Act Permitting Authority

Jones Day on 3/13/2025

On March 4, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in City & County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency and clarified the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ("EPA") and state...more

Supreme Court Strikes Down “End-Result” Requirements in NPDES Permits

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP on 3/13/2025

On March 4, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that prohibits the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA” or “the Agency”) from setting qualitative limits based on the condition of the “receiving waters” that...more

Textualism Is More Than Dictionaries: The Supreme Court's Latest Clean Water Act Decision Looks to History and Context

Venable LLP on 3/11/2025

When it rains too much in San Francisco, the city's wastewater treatment plant can get overloaded. An overloaded wastewater treatment plant means that a city-operated, EPA-permitted point source in the Pacific Ocean could...more

California Environmental Law & Policy Update 3.7.25

Allen Matkins on 3/7/2025

On Tuesday, in a 5-4 opinion authored by Justice Samuel Alioto, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a pivotal ruling that the Clean Water Act (CWA) provisions authorizing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to impose...more

Predictions for 2024 on Federal Wetland Jurisdiction after Sackett and Regulation Amendments

Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL on 3/11/2024

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Sackett case in May of 2023, the U.S. EPA (“EPA”) and the U.S. Army Corps (“Army Corps”) have amended federal regulations to conform to Sackett and the Army Corps has resumed...more

Waters of the United States/Clean Water Act: U.S. House of Representatives Democrats Introduce Legislation Addressing U.S. Supreme...

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,... on 11/15/2023

One hundred eighteen Democratic members of the United States House of Representatives (“House”) introduced legislation titled: Clean Water Act of 2023(H.R. 5983) The stated purpose of H.R. 5983 is to address the...more

Revised WOTUS Rule Limits Reach of Clean Water Act

Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt PC on 9/26/2023

Following years of administrative rulemaking and litigation, on September 8, 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) released a revision to the definition of waters of the United...more

EPA narrows “Waters of the United States” definition following Sackett ruling

Jenner & Block on 9/14/2023

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

Here We WOTUS Again

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck on 9/1/2023

On Aug. 29, 2023, the Biden administration issued a prepublication version of yet another final Clean Water Act rule (“Conforming Rule”) revising the definition of “waters of the United States” (“WOTUS”) in response to the...more

Regulatory Changes: Massachusetts Wetlands Permitting

Goulston & Storrs PC on 6/29/2023

The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued an opinion in Sackett v. EPA that established a stricter test for whether the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) applies to a wetland. The test limits federal jurisdiction to wetlands with a...more

Agencies Announce Intent to Issue Final WOTUS Rule by September 1st

Nossaman LLP on 6/29/2023

On June 26, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) announced their intent to amend the Biden administration’s January 2023 waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule and...more

Is That Wetland I Want to Develop "Adjacent"? Key Interpretation in Limbo After Sackett

Akerman LLP on 6/26/2023

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in on a long-standing controversy over the extent to which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE; collectively, the Agencies) have...more

U.S. Supreme Court Limits Federal Jurisdiction Over Wetlands

Nossaman LLP on 6/15/2023

In a 5-4 decision issued on May 25, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the applicability of federal Clean Water Act regulatory authority over wetlands that have a relatively permanent connection to other federal waters....more

Supreme Court Rules for the Sacketts: The “Significant Nexus” Test is Dead – Long Live “Adjacent Wetlands”

Robinson+Cole Environmental Law + on 6/14/2023

On May 25, 2023, after more than 15 years of fighting, a couple contesting the Environmental Protection Agency’s assertion of jurisdiction over their residential lot as “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean...more

Wetlands and WOTUS: Implications of Sackett v. EPA

WilmerHale on 6/8/2023

On May 25, 2023, the United States Supreme Court held that the term “waters of the United States” (“WOTUS”)—as used in the federal Clean Water Act (“CWA”), 33 U.S.C. § 1362(7)—means “streams, oceans, rivers, and lakes” and...more

The United States Supreme Court’s Decision in Sackett v. EPA Narrows the Jurisdictional Scope of Wetlands Protected Under the...

Lowndes on 6/5/2023

After many decades of uncertainty around the meaning of “the waters of the United States” (WOTUS), the United States Supreme Court narrowed the definition of WOTUS under the Clean Water Act (CWA) in its opinion on May 25,...more

U.S. Supreme Court Limits Extent of Federal Authority Over Wetlands

Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt PC on 6/2/2023

Following years of administrative rulemaking and litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court published a much-anticipated decision interpreting what is a water of the United States (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act (CWA). On May 25,...more

Supreme Court Narrows Scope of Clean Water Act in Landmark Sackett Case

Jenner & Block on 6/2/2023

The U.S. Supreme Court has issued its opinion in the landmark Clean Water Act (“CWA”) case of Sackett v. EPA, No. 21-454 (May 25, 2023). This decision delivers a significant change in terms of the reach and jurisdiction of...more

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Supreme Court of the United States › Clean Water Act › Regulatory Reform

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