Rewriting the Rules: The Supreme Court's Landmark Decision on Clean Water Act Permits
H2-OWOW! – A Reflective Conversation with John Goodin, Former Director of EPA’s Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds – Reflections on Water Podcast
Reflections on Sackett - Reflections on Water Podcast
On-Demand Webinar | Linear Infrastructure Redux: Adapting Your Projects to Meet the New Regulatory Climate
The intricacies of the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) definition continue to evolve, especially with recent changes initiated under the Trump administration and landmark clarifications from the Supreme Court's Sackett v. EPA...more
In his final days in office, President Joe Biden has exercised his executive authority to withdraw more than 625 million acres of federal waters from future oil and gas leasing – the largest withdrawal of its kind in U.S....more
On Aug. 29, 2023, the Biden administration issued a prepublication version of yet another final Clean Water Act rule (“Conforming Rule”) revising the definition of “waters of the United States” (“WOTUS”) in response to the...more
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the final Clean Water Act (CWA) rule (New Rule) to comply with the US Supreme Court decision in Sackett v. EPA, 598 U.S. _, 143 S. Ct. 1322 (2023) (“Sackett”). This is a...more
On August 29, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) (collectively, the Agencies) released their amendment to January 2023 rule (January 2023 Rule) defining what...more
On June 26, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) announced their intent to amend the Biden administration’s January 2023 waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule and...more
UPDATE: On May 17, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers appealed the district court ruling in Texas v. EPA to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. This appeal would...more
On April 12, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Biden administration’s Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule in twenty-four states (the case is West...more
UPDATE: On April 6, 2023, in an expected move, President Biden vetoed the Congressional Review Act joint-resolution that attempted to undo his administration’s WOTUS rule. The president maintained his administration’s rule...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
Since 2015, jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act (CWA or the Act) has been in a near constant state of flux, creating a challenging regulatory landscape for project developers and the regulatory community. The last few...more
Biden administration acts to restore clean-water safeguards - Associated Press – November 18 - The Biden administration took action this Thursday to restore federal protections for hundreds of thousands of small streams,...more
EPA has published its most recent proposed definition of "Waters of the United States" with an eye toward finalizing that definition next year in time for the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act. Before I get to the...more
Like everything else today, the definition of “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act (CWA) ebbs and flows depending on which political party holds office. However, while the Biden Administration gets...more
The scope of the Clean Water Act is yet again in flux. In January 2020, the Trump Administration meaningfully restricted what bodies of water are protected under the Clean Water Act by narrowing the Act’s definition of...more
As a result of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona’s August 30, 2021 order vacating and remanding the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (“NWPR”), discussed in our prior post, the Environmental Protection Agency...more
On September 3, 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) announced the agencies’ will abandon the definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS) set forth in the April 21,...more
Federal judge strikes down Trump rule governing water pollution - The New York Times – August 23 - In the latest episode of a long-running battle concerning the reach of federal jurisdiction over surface waters, Judge...more
On August 30, 2021, a federal court in Arizona struck down the Trump WOTUS rule, citing the serious errors in enacting the rule, as well as the serious environmental harm that it has caused....more
On August 30, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona vacated the April 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule in which the Trump Administration revised the definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS)....more
In light of the Biden Administration's plans to reverse significant portions of the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have announced a schedule of public...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) announced on Aug. 4, 2021, the start of a long anticipated rulemaking process to revise the regulatory definition of "waters of the U.S."...more
At the end of July, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that the Biden administration will begin working to create a “durable definition” of Waters of the United States (WOTUS). EPA and U.S. Army Corps of...more
Last week the Biden administration announced plans to reverse the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, implemented by the prior administration, and initiate a new rulemaking process that will likely expand the number of...more
In a move that is expected to expand the reach of the Clean Water Act, the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers announced their intent to revise the definition of “waters of the United States”—a...more