When it rains too much in San Francisco, the city's wastewater treatment plant can get overloaded. An overloaded wastewater treatment plant means that a city-operated, EPA-permitted point source in the Pacific Ocean could...more
Members of the House and Senate are beginning to introduce joint resolutions calling for the “disapproval” of specific environmental, energy, and natural resources regulations pursuant to the Congressional Review Act. The...more
2/3/2025
/ Congressional Review Act ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Joint Resolutions ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Natural Resources ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rulemaking Process
As expected, the new Trump White House has issued a flurry of executive orders (EOs) which directly affect the federal government's policies on a broad range of environmental and natural resources issues....more
1/24/2025
/ Climate Change ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Executive Orders ,
Natural Resources ,
Offshore Wind ,
Oil & Gas ,
Renewable Energy ,
Trump Administration
Clean Water Act practitioners have spent the past 50 years learning how to identify a wetland or water body that qualifies for federal jurisdiction—and the past 17 parsing the phrase "significant nexus." The upshot was that...more
5/31/2023
/ Clean Water Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Inland Waterways ,
Navigable Waters ,
Sackett ,
Sackett v EPA ,
SCOTUS ,
Significant Nexus Test ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
Just before the crystal ball dropped in Times Square on New Year's Eve, the U.S. EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers made available a pre-publication copy of their final revised definition of "waters of the United States"...more
The U.S. Supreme Court's October 2022 term began with a bang: a new Justice on the bench, the public back in the courtroom for the first time since the pandemic - and two hours of argument about the scope of federal...more
The Supreme Court concluded its momentous term last week, saving the long-anticipated West Virginia v. EPA ruling for the last day of announced opinions. The Court's decision limiting the scope of EPA's authority to regulate...more
Over the past month, the Biden administration has taken several noteworthy steps aimed at creating an environmental enforcement strategy focused on addressing pollution that has traditionally been concentrated in low-income...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
1/28/2022
/ Certiorari ,
Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Jurisdiction ,
Permits ,
Rapanos v US ,
Sackett ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 404 ,
Significant Nexus Test ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States