On March 4, 2025 the Supreme Court overturned the 9th Circuit to rule in favor of the City of San Francisco in a landmark Clean Water Act case. The EPA authorizes states to issue National Pollutant Discharge Elimination...more
In January 2024, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) released the Virginia Stormwater Management Handbook, Version 1.0 (Handbook). The Handbook provides guidance to implement construction stormwater...more
After a summer of historic rainfall and flooding in Massachusetts, stormwater is on our minds. Stormwater is a major source of water pollution in the Commonwealth, and it is crucial that owners and operators of commercial and...more
On December 24, 2022, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s (“PADEP”) Bureau of Clean Water reissued the PAG-03 NPDES General Permit for stormwater discharges associated with industrial activity for a new,...more
The Regional Water Quality Control Board for the San Francisco Bay Region (the “Board”) recently eliminated a credit that many transit-oriented development projects have relied on to meet stormwater runoff requirements. The...more
Virginia’s construction stormwater discharge permit program appears to be undergoing major transformation over the next six to nine months, and reception to these changes from stakeholders is likely to vary given the...more
The State Water Resources Control Board (“State Water Board”) is in the final stages of developing a revised Statewide Construction Stormwater General Permit (“Construction Stormwater General Permit” or “Permit”). The State...more
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ’s) policy and rulemaking board adopted rules renewing Oregon’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Stormwater Discharge General Permit No. 1200-Z (1200-Z...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
As we previously reported, EPA published a PFAS Action Plan in 2019 designed to enhance and improve data gathering, regulatory development, enforcement, and communication related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)....more
The County of Los Alamos, New Mexico (“Los Alamos”) filed a January 17th petition (“Petition”) challenging a United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) decision titled: Designation Decision and Record of Decision...more
The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment – Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) and American Air Filter Company, Inc., (“AAFC”) entered into a December 19th Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing...more
In 2014, what did Idaho, New Mexico, New Hampshire and Massachusetts have in common? Answer: the only states in the Union where pollutant discharge in waterways was overseen by the federal government (the U.S....more
The Southern Environmental Law Center (“SELC”) filed a Petition for a Contested Case Hearing (“Petition”) in the North Carolina Office of Administrative Hearings addressing a Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality...more
The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (“ADEQ”) has issued a renewed Stormwater Industrial General Permit (“IGP”). The IGP is denominated ARR000000 and will be effective July 1, 2019....more
In the latest decision in the long-running legal saga over the proposed Newhall Ranch development in Los Angeles County, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the Army Corps of Engineers’ EIS and Section 404...more
A United States District Court (Central District of California) (“Court”) addressed in an August 9th opinion an issue involving the application of the Clean Water Act National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”)...more
The environmental organizations Riverkeeper, Inc. and Waterkeeper Alliance, Inc. (collectively “Waterkeeper”) filed an action in the Supreme Court of the State of New York against the New York State Department of...more
My Mitchell Williams Law Firm colleagues Allan Gates and Jordan Wimpy undertook a presentation at the April 18th Arkansas Environmental Federation seminar titled: Legal Updates in Water Law (“Presentation”) ...more
The California State Water Board (“Board”) recently adopted what it describes as a “new statewide policy establishing strict environmental standards for cannabis cultivation in order to protect water flows and water quality...more
NEW REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS - Federal - - Program Requirement Revisions Related to the Public Water System Supervision Programs for Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont - EPA is giving notice that...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published on Nov. 17, 2016, a Notice of Intent to Reissue the District of Columbia's municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) permit. The notice triggers a 45-day public...more