On March 24, 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published plans to seek stakeholder input on implementing a new definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The EPA’s goal...more
The Environmental Protection Agency announced March 10 it will be revising the definition for the Waters of the United States Rule (WOTUS). In a news release it said, “[t]he agencies will move quickly to ensure that a revised...more
On March 12, 2025, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announced more than 30 actions to roll back regulations to advance President Trump’s Day One executive orders. These include actions...more
On March 12, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army took steps to address lingering questions about the meaning and implementation of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS)...more
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
After last year’s Supreme Court's decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, there remains confusion regarding how the ruling affects economic development projects such as residential and commercial building,...more
Sam Hess of Inside EPA and many others are writing about EPA's Halloween Trick or Treat – the publication of a draft Clean Water Act NPDES General Permit that would apply to “commercial, industrial and institutional”...more
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (“Court”) addressed in an August 15th Opinion a Clean Water Act jurisdictional question. See United States v. Chameleon, LLC, No. 3:23-CV-763–HEH, 2024 WL...more
Today the United States Supreme Court heard from lawyers representing the City and County of San Francisco and lawyers for the United States Environmental Protection Agency on the question of whether a “narrative standard”...more
The Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment of the United States House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a September 11th hearing titled: Waters of the United States Implementation...more
Judge Boyle of the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina has denied the Pacific Legal Foundation's client an injunction against EPA's and the Corps of Engineers' most recent Waters of the United...more
The United States Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) Vicksburg District issued a May 29th Special Public Notice (“SPN”) styled: Vicksburg District Regulatory Update - ...more
Several “red” states and three energy industry NGOs have filed a motion for summary judgment in their Louisiana Federal Court challenge to EPA's 2023 rule regarding the state water quality certifications required under...more
As predicted in February, our nation's highest court is about to hear its third Clean Water Act in four years. Anyone who doubts the outcome of this case hasn't read the other two Supreme Court opinions and that brings to...more
EPA issued a press release yesterday that caught my eye and if you're in the business of building things, including solar projects, it is worthy of your attention too. The press release announces a settlement between a solar...more
This week our nation's highest court was scheduled to discuss whether to hear the City and County of San Francisco's appeal of a split Ninth Circuit decision upholding an EPA NPDES permit issued to the City and County...more
The environmental organization Earthjustice has developed charts that provide the organization’s views on the impact of the United States Supreme Court decision Sackett v. EPA on the scope of the Clean Water Act term waters...more
Sam Hess of Inside EPA has a fulsome report on EPA's everything but the kitchen sink attempt to avoid a nationwide freeze of its most recent definition of Waters of the United States in litigation filed by a North Carolina...more
The United States Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) and United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued on April 25th document titled: Coordination Process Update: Joint Coordination Memoranda to the Field...more
We're approaching the first anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Sackett v. EPA holding that, contrary to the view of EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers for the past 40 years, the Clean Water Act protects only...more
The Office of Assistant Secretary Civil Works of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) issued a March 22nd Memorandum titled: Civil Works Actions to Sustain and Advance the Nation’s Waters and Wetlands After the...more
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) on March 22, 2024, announced its plans for enhancing the protection of the country's wetlands following the U.S. Supreme Court's Sackett v. EPA decision. In Sackett, the Supreme Court...more
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Sackett case in May of 2023, the U.S. EPA (“EPA”) and the U.S. Army Corps (“Army Corps”) have amended federal regulations to conform to Sackett and the Army Corps has resumed...more
Both regulators and the regulated community must remain alert to accommodate the constantly changing regulatory scheme created in the post-Sackett world. The application of Maui and Sackett in recent months confirms the...more
In the decision Sackett v. EPA, the U.S. Supreme Court provided a clear statement regarding what wetlands are subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act, holding that the Clean Water Act “extends to only those wetlands...more