B&D is pleased to present the next installment of our 2024 Litigation Look Ahead series. (Read part one covering the future of Chevron deference here.) In this edition, our litigation team highlights recently decided or...more
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Feb. 15, 2024, issued an order vacating the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) approval of the state of Florida's application to assume permitting authority...more
For the first time in nearly 35 years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) has proposed to comprehensively revise regulations governing how Tribes and States assume responsibility over administration...more
I'm surprised to see the Biden Administration EPA moving forward right now with a rule proposed during the Trump Administration to allow states to take over responsibility for the permitting of "dredge and fill" activities...more
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
On December 30, 2022 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and the U.S. Department of the Army (“Corps”) (collectively referred to as the “Agencies”) under the Biden Administration released a pre-publication...more
The first Monday in October is just around the corner, and the first oral argument on the Supreme Court’s agenda is Sackett v. EPA. The Supreme Court is stepping once more into Clean Water Act “waters of the United States,”...more
The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida (“Miccosukee”) filed an August 4th Complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida against the United States Environmental Protection Agency...more
In 2022, the on-going debate will continue over the hotly contested definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS), a phrase that determines the scope of federal jurisdiction over streams, wetlands and other waterbodies...more
On January 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari on a fundamental environmental law question that has lingered for several decades - what is the appropriate definition of "waters of the United States" (WOTUS) in...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) reversed a prior decision and restored a Clean Water Act Section 404 veto of the Yazoo Backwater Area Pumps Project (“Project”). Earth Justice had previously filed...more
In 2005 the Corps of Engineers adopted a Regulatory Guidance Letter (RGL) providing that an “approved jurisdictional determination” (AJD) “will remain valid for a period of five years, unless new information warrants revision...more
Last week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that EPA’s decision to withdraw its proposed veto of the Army Corps’ Section 404 permit for the Pebble Mine project in Bristol Bay, Alaska, was subject to judicial review. ...more
Earthjustice and a number of other environmental organizations filed a January 14th Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief (“Complaint”) challenging the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”)...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Dec. 17, 2020, signed an agreement to delegate to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) the authority to issue permits in the state under Section 404 of...more
On December 17, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") announced their approval of the State of Florida’s request to administer federal wetlands permitting under the Clean Water Act ("CWA") Section 404 Program...more
The Court of Federal Claims addressed in a May 29th opinion a Fifth Amendment Takings Claim associated with the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s withdrawal of a Clean Water Act 404 permit that had been issued...more
With minimal fanfare, the U.S. Department of the Army is doing its part to reduce the amount of time needed for infrastructure proposals, such as natural gas pipelines, to obtain federal regulatory approvals. ...more
On December 11, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the “Corps”) proposed new regulations that would sharply curtail the Corps’ permitting authority under the Clean Water...more
Last week before his departure USEPA Administrator Pruitt notified the regulated community that he had directed the Agency to update regulations governing the Agency’s use of Section 404(c) veto power in permitting discharges...more
United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Administrator E. Scott Pruitt issued a March 30th memorandum titled: Revision to Delegation of Authority 2-43, Section 404 Dredged and Fill Material Permitting...more
On March 20, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit decided the case of Marquette County Road Commission v. U.S. EPA, et al. The opinion will not be published in the Federal Reporter. Both the trial court and the...more
• The Trump Administration released an ambitious $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan on Feb. 12, 2018 – a plan that includes many provisions focused upon encouraging the reuse of contaminated brownfields and Superfund sites. ...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency and United States Corps of Engineers (collectively “EPA”) finalized a rule that would add an applicability date to the Obama Administration era revised definition of the Clean...more
On January 22, 2018, the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously in National Association of Manufacturers v. Department of Defense that legal challenges to an Obama Administration regulation defining “waters of the...more