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Water Quality Clean Water Act Discharge of Pollutants

Allen Matkins

Beyond Sackett: California’s Expanding Role in Wetlands Permitting and the Future of “Waters of the State”

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California’s regulatory authority over “waters of the state” continues to grow even as the federal definition of “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) narrows under shifting legal and regulatory frameworks. In Sackett v. EPA...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

To Waive or Not to Waive? That Is the 401 Question

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on May 16, 2025, clarified the conditions under which a state waives its Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 401 water quality certification (WQC) authority. In Village of Morrisville...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Citizen Suits and Larger Penalties May Be the Future of California Water Quality Protections

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The California legislature continues to advance Senate Bill 601 (SB 601), the “Right to Clean Water Act,” which aims to safeguard protections for California’s streams and wetlands that lost federal protection under the Clean...more

Latham & Watkins LLP

Supreme Court Waves Goodbye to Clean Water Act End-Result Requirements

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The landmark decision alters the NPDES permit landscape, shifting the focus to specific actions over general outcomes....more

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

Supreme Court Strikes Down ​“End-Result” Requirements in NPDES Permits

On March 4, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that prohibits the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA” or ​“the Agency”) from setting qualitative limits based on the condition of the ​“receiving waters” that...more

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

Supreme Court Strikes Down ​“End-Result” Requirements in NPDES Permits

On March 4, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that prohibits the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA” or ​“the Agency”) from setting qualitative limits based on the condition of the ​“receiving waters” that...more

Nossaman LLP

City and County of San Francisco vs. EPA: Implications for Clean Water Act Permittees

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On March 4, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in the case City and County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency, in which it held that “end-result” requirements routinely imposed by the U.S....more

Stinson LLP

Supreme Court Rules for Permit Holders on Age-Old CWA Dispute

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In a 5-4 ruling on March 4, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lacks authority to impose Clean Water Act (CWA) conditions in National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)...more

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,...

Generic Prohibitions/NPDES Permits/Water Quality Standards: United States Supreme Court Decides City/County of San Francisco v....

The Supreme Court of the United States (“Court”) issued an Opinion on March 4th in the case styled: City and County of San Francisco, California v. Environmental Protection Agency. See No. 23-753....more

Tonkon Torp LLP

U.S. Supreme Court Ruling Will Make it Easier to Comply with NPDES Permits

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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

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,...

Wastewater Enforcement: Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment and Independence County Wastewater Treatment Facility Enter...

The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment – Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) and Select Sands America Corp. (“Select Sands”) entered into a July 10th Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing alleged...more

Mintz

Now a Federal Judge in Louisiana will determine the validity of EPA's interpretation of Section 401 of the Clean Water Act

Mintz on

When EPA published its most recent rule specifying the role of States and Tribes in the Federal permitting of discharges into Waters of the United States, I predicted it was only a matter of time before we'd see another...more

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,...

Section 401/Clean Water Act: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Announces Final Rule Addressing Certification

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) announced on September 14th a final rule that it denominates Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality Certification Improvement Rule (“Final Rule”)....more

McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC

FINAL REMINDER – ACTION NEEDED: It’s Time to Renew Coverage Under the NPDES PAG-03

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

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

Colorado Meets Maui: District Court Analyzes Discharges to Groundwater

Maui has finally made its way to Colorado. In what appears to be the first application of County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, 140 S. Ct. 1462 (2020) in the state, the District of Colorado recently held that certain...more

Downey Brand LLP

Developing Offshore Wind in California – Environmental Permitting and Interconnection Considerations

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The California coast offers significant potential for offshore wind development that can help the state reach its renewable energy goals. Developers of wind energy projects located off the California coast will face a number...more

(ACOEL) | American College of Environmental...

Oh, Congress Forgot The Science

In an ACOEL blog posted on July 27, 2021, Seth Jaffe expressed his support for the Supreme Court’s majority opinion in the Maui case and the subsequent ruling by the District Court. In Maui, the Supreme Court held that an...more

Beveridge & Diamond PC

Oregon Adopts a Significantly Modified (and Legally Vulnerable) Industrial Stormwater General Permit

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

Downey Brand LLP

Proposed “California Clean Water Act” (AB 377) Would Restrict Ability to Secure Schedules of Compliance in Water Quality Permits...

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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

Downey Brand LLP

Judge Suspends State Procedures as Applied to Majority of Waters of the State; Retains Application to Waters Subject to the Clean...

Downey Brand LLP on

On December 17, 2020, the Sacramento County Superior Court substantially limited the scope of waters to which the State Procedures for Discharges of Dredged and Fill Material (“Procedures”) apply through its decision in San...more

Farella Braun + Martel LLP

New EPA Clean Water Act Rule Attempts to Streamline Permitting Process

Earlier this week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized the “Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Rule” (Rule). The Rule comes with significant procedural and substantive changes to the certification...more

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,...

Stormwater Enforcement: Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment - Division of Environmental Quality and Fayetteville,...

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

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Supremes Let Hoopa Stand, Leave Door Open for EPA to Reshape CWA 401

On December 9, the Supreme Court denied certiorari to review the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in Hoopa Valley Tribe v. FERC. As reported in this space, in January the D.C. Circuit roundly rejected the common practice...more

Stoel Rives LLP

The State of Washington Sues EPA to Challenge EPA’s Approval of Washington’s Own Human Health Criteria

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On June 6, the State of Washington sued EPA in federal court to stop EPA from approving Washington’s own water quality standards.  This is the latest installment in a multiyear battle over whether Washington’s water quality...more

Downey Brand LLP

Joint Powers Authority Comprised of Irrigation Districts and the City and County of San Francisco Challenge Recently Adopted State...

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On May 1, 2019, a group of California agencies and municipalities filed a petition for writ of mandate and complaint for mandatory relief challenging the State Wetlands Definition and Procedures for Discharges of Dredge and...more

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