Following its recent opinion in Village of Morrisville v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has once again waded into the issue of when a state waives its certification authority under...more
7/17/2025
/ Appeals ,
Clean Water Act ,
Energy Projects ,
Environmental Policies ,
FERC ,
Hydropower ,
Judicial Review ,
Permits ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Scope of Authority ,
Water Quality
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on May 16, 2025, clarified the conditions under which a state waives its Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 401 water quality certification (WQC) authority. In Village of Morrisville...more
5/22/2025
/ Appeals ,
Certification Requirements ,
Clean Water Act ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Energy Projects ,
Environmental Policies ,
FERC ,
Judicial Authority ,
Navigable Waters ,
Public Health ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Section 401 ,
State and Local Government ,
Statutory Deadlines ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Waivers ,
Water Quality
At its May 23, 2024 open meeting, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NOPR”) proposing to establish a one-year “reasonable period of time” for certifying authorities to...more
6/11/2024
/ Clean Water Act ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
FERC ,
Final Rules ,
Hydropower ,
Infrastructure ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Proposed Rules ,
Section 401 ,
Water ,
Water Quality
At its May 23 open meeting, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR), proposing to establish a one-year “reasonable period of time” for certifying authorities to act on...more
6/5/2024
/ Clean Water Act ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
FERC ,
Final Rules ,
Hydropower ,
Infrastructure ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Proposed Rules ,
Section 401 ,
Water ,
Water Quality
Today, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court re-instated the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) 2020 Clean Water Act (CWA) section 401 rule (Certification Rule). The Court stayed a decision by the U.S. District...more
On October 21, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California vacated and remanded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2020 Clean Water Act Section 401 final rule (Certification Rule)....more
There has been a longstanding debate about how to apply the one-year time limit on Clean Water Act Section 401 certification decisions. The D.C. Circuit court in Hoopa Valley Tribe v. FERC, 913 F.3d 1099 (D.C. Cir. 2019)...more
In 2019, the D.C. Circuit in Hoopa Valley Tribe v. FERC held that the plain language of Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 401 establishes a bright-line maximum period of one year for States to act on a request for water quality...more