PFAS in Focus: Wastewater Utility Perspectives From Jay Hoskins, Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District - Reflections on Water Podcast
Drinking Water on Tap: Money, Morality, and More with Tracy Mehan from the American Water Works Association - Reflections on Water Podcast
On March 4, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5-4 opinion in City and County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency, holding that “end-result” requirements routinely imposed by the EPA in NPDES permits issued...more
The Supreme Court of the United States’ recent Clean Water Act decision in City of San Francisco v. EPA has sent shockwaves through the environmental community by prohibiting EPA and state agencies’ common practice of...more
In its recent decision in San Francisco v. EPA, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a Ninth Circuit interpretation of the Clean Water Act (“CWA”), the second case in just two years where the Court has disagreed with the EPA’s...more
When the Supreme Court issued its decision in City & County of San Francisco v. EPA on March 4, 2025, it may have saved San Francisco $10 billion dollars in penalties sought by the United States Environmental Protection...more
On March 4, 2025, the United States Supreme Court issued its ruling in City and County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency, limiting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s permitting authority under...more
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, in San Francisco v. EPA, held in a 5-4 decision that the EPA cannot enforce requirements in wastewater permits that “do not spell out what a permittee must do or refrain from doing.” San...more
With its opinion in San Francisco v. EPA, the U.S. Supreme Court has again acted to "right" the implementation of the federal Clean Water Act by overturning a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit interpretation of the...more
On March 3, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court decided City and County of San Francisco, California v. Environmental Protection Agency, No. 23-753, holding that Section 1311(b)(1)(A) of the Clean Water Act does not authorize the...more
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
During the first week of oral arguments of its new term, the U.S. Supreme Court heard City & County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency. This case marks the court’s first look at the Clean Water Act following...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
You may have thought the movie Oppenheimer would be the only blockbuster involving Los Alamos, New Mexico this year. But now EPA has invoked its rarely used Residual Designation Authority under section 402 of the Clean Water...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) is issuing for public comment draft guidance on applying the United States Supreme Court decision in County of Maui vs. Hawaii Wildlife Fund. EPA had previously...more
The “Major Questions Doctrine” (MQD) has been the breakout star of the last two terms at the US Supreme Court. Earlier this month, the Fourth Circuit used MQD in upholding the dismissal of a nongovernmental organization’s...more
This is a brief roundup of recent federal court environmental and regulatory law decisions from the federal courts over the past few months, including the much anticipated ruling in Sackett, et ux., v, Environmental...more
The Sacketts made history again in their continuing saga to build a modest house on a small lot they purchased in Bonner County, Idaho where they filled in some soggy low land. For roughly 15 years, Michael and Chantell...more
On May 25, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court announced a five-Justice Majority decision in the case of Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency. Justice Alito, writing for the majority, stated that the Clean Water Act only...more
Key Takeaways - May 25 SCOTUS decision significantly curtails the power of the EPA to regulate wetlands - Majority determines that navigable waters regulated by the EPA do not include many previously regulated...more
THE CLEAN WATER ACT AND SECTION 401 - In 1948, Congress passed the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) as the first rendition of a law intended to address growing pollution of American waters. By 1972, increased...more
The County of Maui had another day in court this week, this time pleading with Federal District Judge Mollway to reconsider her renewed decision that the discharge of treated effluent from the Maui waste water treatment...more
The Ninth Circuit reversed a conviction for three counts of violations under the Clean Water Act because the district court failed to instruct the jury that the defendant needed to knowingly discharge material “into water” to...more
In the late 1980s, when I was an associate at the environmental boutique law firm of Berle, Kass, and Case in New York City, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and John Cronin came to visit the firm to discuss a new project they had...more
As Storm Looms, 4th Circuit Reverses Ruling Against Dominion on Coal Ash Pollution at Chesapeake Site - "Water pollution from a coal ash landfill and settling ponds at a closed power plant in Chesapeake is not a violation of...more