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
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
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
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
The Association of State Wetland Managers (“ASWM”) submitted November 28th comments on the Clean Water Act definition of “waters of the United States” (“WOTUS”). The November 28th comments were submitted in response to the...more
The Subcommittee on Environment of the United States House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, & Technology (“Committee”) is holding a hearing today titled: ...Waters of the United States: Examining the Role of...more
A mitigation bank is a wetland, stream, or other habitat area that has been restored, established, enhanced, or (in certain circumstances) preserved for the purpose of providing compensation for unavoidable impacts to such...more
Under Section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. § 1344), a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is required for activities involving the discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the...more
On May 31, 2016, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in United States Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co., Inc. holding that approved judicial determinations as to the presence of wetlands issued by the...more