Rewriting the Rules: The Supreme Court's Landmark Decision on Clean Water Act Permits
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
In a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court under the federal Clean Water Act, the Court threw out two requirements in the City of San Francisco’s wastewater discharge permit. The same or similar requirements are probably in your...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
A group of 25 Republican AGs submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in Port of Tacoma, et al. v. Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, supporting the petition for certiorari in a case regarding whether the Clean Water Act...more
On Aug. 28–29, 2024, approximately 50 people gathered at the University of California San Diego Extension to learn about the California State Water Resources Control Board’s (State Water Board) reissuance of the Construction...more
EarthJustice and other environmental/community organizations have filed a joint Amici Curai Brief in the United States Supreme Court styled: City and County of San Francisco v. EPA (“Brief”). See Docket No. 23-753....more
Various municipalities and public wastewater and stormwater utilities have filed a joint Amici Curiae brief in the United States Supreme Court Case styled: City and County of San Francisco v EPA...more
Welcome to the August edition of Nutter’s Environment & Energy Insights, a monthly update of current trends in environment and energy law. This month we cover: EPA’s new Facility Response Plan requirements for potential...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
Last week, EPA and the Army Corps finally published their long-awaited rule defining “Waters of the United States.” Will the WOTUS rule finally provide the clarity for which we have been waiting, allowing the rule to be as...more
A United States District Court (W.D. Washington) (“Court”) addressed in an October 31st Order a Clean Water Act citizen suit action seeking an injunction to remedy alleged illegal discharge of pollutants into a lake and its...more
Many years ago the Conservation Law Foundation sued the Federal Environmental Protection Agency in an attempt to cause EPA to exercise its "residual designation authority" under the Federal Clean Water Act to require permits...more
Last week, EPA and the Army Corps proposed a new rule to define what constitutes “waters of the United States.” Déjà vu all over again. Under the proposal, the agencies: are exercising their discretionary authority to...more
The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (“NACWA”) and other municipalities filed an Amicus Brief in the pending Supreme Court of the United States case styled County of Maui v. Hawai’i Wildlife Fund, et al....more
My law firm colleague Allan Gates undertook a webinar presentation for the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (“NACWA”) titled: - Shaking Things Up – The Trump Administration, Regulatory Change, and...more
Shortly after admonishing the Ninth Circuit for its strained interpretation of the Clean Water Act (“CWA”), the Supreme Court may be asked to repeat itself. On January 8, 2013, in Los Angeles County Flood Control District v....more
The recent term of the United States Supreme Court featured several rulings on environmental and other regulatory issues. This update highlights the major environmental decisions this term, as well as some of the issues the...more
Most of the federal government's authority is exercised, on a day-to-day basis, through its administrative agencies. Central to the efficiency of those agencies — such as it is — is the judiciary's substantial deference to...more
On March 20, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court held in a 7-1 decision that Clean Water Act permits are not required for stormwater runoff from logging roads. The decision in Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center defers...more
The U. S. Supreme Court’s March 20, 2013, decision in Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center is good news for the logging industry. The Clean Water Act (Act) and EPA’s Silvicultural Rule (Regulation) do not require...more
Supreme Court ruling gives deference to EPA's interpretation of its own regulations. On March 20, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the consolidated cases of Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center and...more
In a 7-1 decision overruling the Ninth Circuit, the U.S. Supreme Court today upheld the Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) long-standing interpretation that stormwater run-off from logging roads are exempt from NPDES...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has reversed a 2010 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision and reaffirmed that a federal Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) point source discharge permit is not...more
Yesterday, in a 7-1 decision with Justice Scalia the lone dissenter, the U.S. Supreme Court handed a major victory to the forest products industry. As it does so often, the Court reversed a Ninth Circuit ruling that had...more