On March 24, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (together, the Agencies) announced plans to engage stakeholders in the Trump administration’s latest effort to pare back...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (together, the Agencies) issued a straight-to-final-rule revised definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) on August 29, 2023. This...more
On May 25, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Sackett v. EPA, No. 21-454, holding that Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction extends to wetlands only if they have a continuous surface connection to...more
On December 30, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) announced a final rule once again updating the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) and,...more
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) recently published notice that it is initiating a formal review of Nationwide Permit (NWP) 12 a little over a year after its latest iteration took effect. NWP 12, which serves as a...more
Over the past week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced plans to undo the Trump administration’s Navigable Waters Protection Rule, and take the Biden administration’s next...more
In an order with serious and immediate national implications for the construction of pipelines, electrical lines, fiber optic cable, and other utility projects, a Montana federal court has vacated Clean Water Act (CWA)...more
On January 23, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finalized a long-awaited new rule redefining the term “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The Agencies...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
On December 11, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers (the “agencies”) announced once again that they are proposing a new rule to redefine the scope of waters and wetlands subject to...more
On August 16, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina issued a nationwide injunction on a Trump administration rule that has been preventing the 2015 rule that revised the definition of “waters of the...more
The Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers announced yesterday that the implementation of President Trump’s executive order directing EPA and the Corps to replace the Clean Water Rule will be a two-step...more
On March 19, 2017, the latest iterations of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ nationwide permits (NWPs) will take effect. As set forth in the Corps’ final rule announcing these NWPs, the 2017 package contains 52 permits,...more
Perhaps it is poetic justice. The litigation over the final Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule is as disjointed and confusing as the rule itself. Following a key court ruling yesterday, the WOTUS rule is now...more
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers (“the agencies”) have issued the long-awaited final rule to define the scope of waters and wetlands subject to federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act...more
It was inevitable I suppose. In a town where every policy discussion reaffirms the lampooning it receives in HBO’s “Veep,” it was only a matter of time until the EPA/Army Corps’ proposed rule on the scope of jurisdiction...more