Rewriting the Rules: The Supreme Court's Landmark Decision on Clean Water Act Permits
The Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality (“MCEQ”) and Cullum Construction, LLC (“CC”) entered into a June 25th Agreed Order (“AO”) addressing alleged violations of a Clean Water Act Stormwater Permit. See Order No....more
The Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment (“Department”) and Sunrise Mining, LLC (“Sunrise”) entered into a May 14th Compliance Order on Consent (“CO”) addressing an alleged violation of the Colorado Stormwater...more
In this episode of Digging Into Land Use Law, Byron Gee, Willis Hon and Sara Johnson review in detail the recent Supreme Court opinion in City and County of San Francisco vs. EPA and its implications for Clean Water Act...more
Key Takeaways - What Happened? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed the 2026 version of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) MSGP for stormwater discharges associated with...more
On December 13, 2024, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a request for public comment for the 2026 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permit for stormwater...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and A-1 Pallets, Inc. (“A-1”) entered into a February 13th Consent Agreement (“CA”) alleging violations of the Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination...more
On January 14, 2025, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”) issued a new Maine Construction General Permit (“MCGP”). The new permit replaces the prior 2006 MCGP, which expired and had been administratively...more
The United Stated Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and South Carolina Pole and Piling, Inc (“SCPPI”) entered into a February 11th Expedited Settlement Agreement and Final Order (“Agreement”) addressing alleged...more
My colleague, Jordan Wimpy, undertook a presentation at the Arkansas Bar association Mid-Year Conference titled: Stormwater Construction Permit(s): An Overview (“Presentation”)....more
Update: On February 3, 2025, EPA extended the comment period on the 2026 Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP) to April 4, 2025....more
The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment - Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) and Newrays One, LLC (“Newrays”) entered into a December 12th Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing an alleged violation...more
Update: On January 31, under the new Trump administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reopened the comment period for the 2024 Preliminary Designation and draft General Permit for CII properties. Written...more
The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment - Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) and Oltmans Development, Inc. (“ODI”) entered into a December 10th Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing alleged...more
2026 MSGP - EPA released its proposed 2026 MSGP, which authorizes stormwater discharges associated with industrial activities in jurisdictions where EPA is the NPDES permitting authority, including Massachusetts, New...more
On November 20, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 9 published in the Federal Register its Final Designation of stormwater discharges from commercial, industrial, and institutional (CII) properties...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 Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment - Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) and TD Granite & Marble (“TD”) entered into a February 21st Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing alleged violations of a...more
Earlier this week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed EPA’s NPDES permit issued to San Francisco’s Oceanside sewer system. San Francisco had challenged the permit on the ground that EPA does not have authority to...more
The Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality (“MCEQ”) and JWM Development, LLC (“JWM”) entered into a September 27th Agreed Order (“AO”) addressing alleged violations of a Clean Water Act Storm Water Permit. See Order...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) exercise certain Clean Water Act residual designation authorities to address stormwater discharges in three Massachusetts watersheds. The designations were...more
Enforcement under the major federal environmental statutes is often - but not always - filed by state or federal regulators. However, the statutes generally give private parties avenues to pursue litigation when regulators ―...more
The Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama (“Appellate Court”) addressed in a February 18th Opinion a challenge to the issuance by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (“ADEM”) of two Clean Water Act National...more
Regulated parties who comply with their permit sometimes get an unwelcome surprise. They meet with their state agency, make full disclosure about their discharges or emissions, and then the state agency makes decisions about...more
AB 377, entitled the “California Clean Water Act,” introduced by Assemblymember Rivas in February 2021, includes provisions to eliminate all “impaired waterways” and make all waters in California suitable for drinking,...more
The City of Little Rock, Arkansas (“Little Rock”) filed a January 16th Request for Commission Review and Adjudicatory Hearing (“Request”) before the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission (“Commission”) challenging...more