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On December 30, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (collectively Agencies) announced the issuance of a final rule defining “waters of the United States” (WOTUS), a key...more
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rulemaking on Jan. 18, 2023, revising the definition of "Waters of the United States" (WOTUS) within the Corps1 and...more
THE CLEAN WATER ACT AND SECTION 401 - In 1948, Congress passed the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) as the first rendition of a law intended to address growing pollution of American waters. By 1972, increased...more
Twenty-two agricultural organizations submitted February 7th comments to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) addressing the federal agencies’ joint proposed rule to...more
Permit applicants who have pending applications with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Army Corps”) may have received word in the last two weeks that the Army Corps has paused finalization of any permit decisions that relied...more
Like everything else today, the definition of “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act (CWA) ebbs and flows depending on which political party holds office. However, while the Biden Administration gets...more
Once again, developers and other interested parties are grappling with yet another District Court decision regarding the definition of Waters of the United States. On August 30, 2021, the Federal District of Arizona vacated...more
Last week, I reported that Judge Rosemary Marquez had vacated the Trump administration’s Navigable Waters Protection Rule. I also asked “what’s next”? EPA and the Army Corps have now answered that question, at least for the...more
On August 30, 2021, the United States District Court for the District of Arizona issued an order vacating the Navigable Waters Protection Rule and remanding the rule back to U.S. EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The...more
Yesterday, Judge Rosemary Marquez vacated the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, the misnomer also known as the Trump WOTUS rule. In response to this citizens’ suit challenging NWPR, the Biden EPA and Army Corps of Engineers...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) announced on Aug. 4, 2021, the start of a long anticipated rulemaking process to revise the regulatory definition of "waters of the U.S."...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency and Corps of Engineers (collectively “Corps”) issued a July 30th news release announcing plans for: . . . upcoming community engagements to inform their efforts to revise the...more
A South Carolina federal judge issued an order late last week allowing the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, the Trump administration’s “waters of the United States” rule, to remain in place while the U.S. Environmental...more
On Wednesday, July 14, 2021, a federal court in South Carolina allowed the Trump administration’s Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR), defining the scope of Clean Water Act jurisdiction, to remain in place while the U.S....more
Proposed regulatory changes will increase the extent of lands throughout the country that will be designated, and regulated, as wetlands. On June 9, 2021, the Department of the Army and the Environmental Protection Agency...more
On June 9, 2021, the Biden administration announced its intent to repeal and replace the Trump administration’s 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule, which defines which waterbodies constitute “waters of the United States”...more
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers published its final rule for the Reissuance and Modification of Nationwide Permits in the waning days of the Trump Administration. The final rule reissues and modifies 12 existing nationwide...more
JANUARY 2020 - FEDERAL APPELLATE COURTS - U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit - El Paso County, Texas, et al. v. Donald J. Trump, et al. On January 8, 2020, a divided panel of the court quickly granted a...more
Trump administration reverses migratory bird protections - Bullet The New York Times – December 21 - The U.S. Department of the Interior this Tuesday finalized a reversal of protections for wild birds under the 1918...more
Congress takes aim at climate change in massive relief bill - Bullet Associated Press – December 21 - The pandemic relief and spending package that President Donald Trump signed into law on Monday includes billions of...more
On September 15, 2020, the Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) released a notice of proposed rulemaking to modify and reissue its existing Nationwide Permits (“NWPs”) and is accepting public comments through November 16, 2020....more
Federal court blocks Interior Department’s relaxation of migratory bird safeguards - U.S. News & World Report – August 12 - The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York this Tuesday struck down a U.S....more
This is Part 2 in a five-part series addressing the recent changes in legal standards regulating water resources in the United States. Part 2 examines how the phrase “waters of the United States” is now defined under new...more
Two recent executive orders (“EOs”) issued by President Trump require additional efforts by federal agencies to facilitate regulatory reform and to expedite infrastructure projects, relying greatly on emergency and special...more