Climate-Proofing Our Infrastructure: Building Climate Resilience with the Army Corps of Engineers
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On July 28, 2025, the Director of Civil Works for the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Eddie Belk, issued guidance for analyzing induced flooding. This guidance is intended to help USACE Districts and Divisions...more
The Buchalter LA Wildfire Taskforce is happy to report some good news for certain commercial property owners impacted by the LA Wildfires. On March 28, 2025, the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) agreed...more
The debris removal process for the LA fires is currently underway. The process is split into two phases, each managed by a different government agency. Phase One is managed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency...more
Affected landowners may be able to avail themselves of certain protections under state and federal environmental laws. In the aftermath of the wildfires in the Los Angeles area in January 2025, a cleanup effort is...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
Recent federal court decisions have changed the way wetlands are regulated in the United States. Here's what you need to know. A Shift in Wetland Regulation: The Sackett Decision and Its Impact In 2023, the U.S. Supreme...more
The United States District Court (E.D. Louisiana) (“Court”) issued a June 12th Order addressing a property owner’s challenge to the United States Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) assertion of Clean Water Act jurisdiction over...more
The Ballard Spahr Zoning and Land Use Team is continuing to monitor all aspects of the Philadelphia land use approval process during the COVID-19 emergency, including the issuance of zoning and building permits, regulation of...more
EPA and Army Corps of Engineers New “Waters of the U.S.” Definition Takes Effect on June 22 - On Tuesday, the Federal Register will officially published the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers final...more
Russellville Legends, LLC, (“RLL”) filed a July 29th Complaint for Declaratory Judgment or Alternatively for Damages (“Complaint”) in the United States District Court (Eastern District Arkansas) against the United States Army...more
The Army Corps of Engineers recently issued a Regulatory Guidance Letter (RGL) that sets out factors that should be considered by district engineers when determining the amount of mitigation credits that may be allowed for...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (“Court”) addressed in a September 21st opinion whether language in a prior Congressional Act required the United States Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) to continue...more
The saga of the federal Clean Water Act’s definition of “waters of the United States” (“WOTUS”) has taken more turns recently, including a significant setback for the Trump Administration’s efforts to transition away from the...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (“Court”) affirmed a lower court ruling addressing challenges to Clean Water Act nationwide permits granted to Meryln Drake by the United States Corps of Engineers...more
United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Administrator E. Scott Pruitt issued a March 30th memorandum titled: Revision to Delegation of Authority 2-43, Section 404 Dredged and Fill Material Permitting...more
Many lawsuits have been filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims alleging that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) management of the Missouri River flood control system has resulted in the serious flooding of many...more
• U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously – on narrow procedural grounds – that the courts of appeals do not have original jurisdiction to hear challenges to the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Obama Administration's 2015 rule...more
In a recent blog post, we described the basic statutory and regulatory framework supporting the increasing popularity of mitigation banking. In this update, we offer some additional observations for property owners and other...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has just issued a Regulatory Guidance Letter which provides to property owners (including developers) the right of appeal USACE Approved Jurisdictional...more
On May 31, 2016, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in United States Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co., Inc. holding that approved judicial determinations as to the presence of wetlands issued by the...more
The United States Supreme Court handed landowners and developers a win this month in a unanimous decision allowing appeals to federal courts of Army Corps of Engineers determinations that a body of water or wetland is subject...more
On May 31, 2016, in United States Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co., the US Supreme Court unanimously held that a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) approved jurisdictional determination (JD) is a final agency action...more
Environmental and Policy Focus - U.S. Supreme Court allows pre-permit challenges to approved jurisdictional determinations - Allen Matkins - May 31 - In a major new legal development for the Clean Water Act's...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Supreme Court decided that Army Corps’ jurisdictional determinations are judicially reviewable. This decision leaves open the question of whether other types of administrative decisions are immediately...more
Introduction - On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an important decision that continues a trend of judicial skepticism toward federal agency efforts to avoid judicial review of agency permitting and related...more