The Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rule is an ongoing conundrum to all those subject to it, most especially in trying to ascertain exactly which water ways qualify under the Rule. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency...more
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) have published their 2025 increases to civil penalties....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The U.S. DOL and U.S. EPA have published their 2024 increases to civil penalties....more
Earlier this week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed EPA’s NPDES permit issued to San Francisco’s Oceanside sewer system. San Francisco had challenged the permit on the ground that EPA does not have authority to...more
For some time now, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has been evaluating several industrial point sources for discharges of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in wastewater and leachate. On January 31,...more
The annual results of the agency’s enforcement and compliance efforts repeatedly discussed Environmental Justice (EJ), touting general trends and specific enforcement actions related to potential communities of concern. The...more
Will private landowners’ property fall under more regulation as part of the definition of “waters of the United States?” Will land near, but that does not front, a large body of water be subject to the wetlands regulations of...more
What was old is now new again as the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) announced on September 3, 2021 a reversion to a pre-2015 definition of Waters of...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: USEPA published an Interpretive Statement (dated April 12, 2019), that according to the Agency “clarifies” that releases of pollutants to groundwater from a point source are “categorically excluded” from...more
On July 12, 2018, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“USEPA”) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (“USACE”) published a “Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” soliciting additional comments on...more
On May 27, 2015, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“USEPA”) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (“USACE”) released their long-awaited final rule defining the scope of “waters of the United States”...more