CCUS: Understanding The Class VI Permitting Process
In a ruling July 15, U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway ordered Maui County to obtain a permit under the Clean Water Act (CWA) consistent with the analysis established by the Supreme Court’s April 2020 ruling that...more
The Arizona’s First Regular Session of the 55th Legislature has been moving along at a pretty fast and steady pace. A total of 40 bills have already been sent to the Governor’s desk; and 32 of those have been signed into law...more
Despite losing his bid to have the U.S. Supreme Court declare that wastewater discharges through groundwater can never be subject to the permit requirements of the Clean Water Act (CWA), Maui County Mayor Michael Victorino,...more
Georgetown University Law Professor Lisa Heinzerling discusses the recent oral argument in County of Maui, Hawaii v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund in a November 7th SCOTUSblog post. The United States Supreme Court had previously...more
I under took a presentation at the April 18th Arkansas Environmental Federation Water Conference (“Conference”) titled: Does a Discharge to Groundwater Require an NPDES Permit? (“Presentation”) The Presentation focused...more
Recently, the United States Supreme Court agreed to consider whether liability under the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) extends to pollution traveling through groundwater prior to reaching federally regulated water. The Court’s...more
A recent Ninth Circuit ruling that pollutants reaching waters of the United States through groundwater may trigger Clean Water Act liability has prompted the U.S. EPA to consider clarifying its position on the subject. The...more
On Feb. 20, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a Request for Comment in the Federal Register seeking comments on a broad range of topics related to the question of whether the Clean Water Act (CWA)...more
On February 1, 2018, the 9th Circuit issued its ruling in Hawai’i Wildlife Fund v. County of Maui that expands coverage under the Federal Clean Water Act (CWA) to discharges of contaminants to groundwater that travel through...more
The District of Columbia Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) on Oct. 28, 2016, published final rules governing the construction, maintenance and abandonment of wells. The new regulations became effective immediately...more
Stanford University released a study this week stating that California has three times more useable groundwater located in deep aquifers than previously estimated. This might come as welcome news to a state that continues to...more
June 3, 2016 was the final deadline for oil- and gas-related bills introduced in the 2015-2016 legislative session to move through their house of origin. Below is a summary of those bills, many of which relate to natural gas...more
California's Proposition 65 is notorious for its duty-to-warn requirement, which states that a business must give a clear and reasonable warning prior to exposing people to certain levels of any listed chemical. The warning...more
On March 20, Senator Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) wrote a letter to Governor Jerry Brown requesting that his administration immediately shut down approximately 2,500 underground injection wells. The letter was signed by...more
On Tuesday, March 3, twelve underground injection control (“UIC”) wells in California’s Central Valley, specifically in Kern County, were shut down in order to protect subsurface drinking water from potential contamination. ...more
February 27, 2015 was the deadline for lawmakers to introduce legislation to the 2015-2016 California Legislative Session and several bills related to oil and gas activities were introduced. Below is a summary of those...more
California Assemblymember Das Williams (D-Carpinteria) has introduced an oil and gas bill to ensure that the state comes into compliance with the Class II underground injection (“UIC”) requirements under the federal Safe...more
A. The Brackish Groundwater Resource Opportunity. According to the Texas Water Development Board (“TWDB”), more than 2.7 billion acre-feet of brackish groundwater exists within the State of Texas. Texas has numerous...more
The Texas Railroad Commission has clarified and strengthened Rule 13, relating to requirements for drilling, putting pipe down, and cementing wells. The amendment will go into effect on January 1, 2014....more
The development of Arizona's geothermal energy resources has the potential to provide industrial and commercial projects with a constant, renewable source of electrical power. Research conducted to date demonstrates some...more