On February 11, 2021, the Ninth Circuit upheld the district court’s decision vacating Nationwide Permit (NWP) 48, Commercial Shellfish Mariculture Activities, in Washington State. As previously discussed, industry appealed...more
On February 6, 2021, Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) proposed legislation that would breach four dams on the Lower Snake River while requiring the power, transportation, and irrigation benefits of the dams to be replaced and...more
In yet another setback for the Army Corps of Engineers’ Nationwide Permit program, a June 11, 2020 federal court ruling vacated NWP 48 for commercial shellfish aquaculture in Washington State. Center for Food Safety v. U.S....more
Last week EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that they again will be taking the first step in the long-awaited rulemaking process to redefine the scope of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the...more
The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) released the draft 2020 Industrial Stormwater General Permit (ISGP) for public comment. The draft permit contains a number of changes from the existing ISGP, including adding two...more
On August 19, 2017, one of Cooke Aquaculture’s largest facilities in Washington—a ten-cage net pen off Cypress Island—collapsed, resulting in the release of 243,000 to 263,000 non-native Atlantic salmon into Puget Sound....more