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
On March 12, 2025, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a Federal Register notice stating their intent to review the definition of “waters of the United States” (“WOTUS”), which...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
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
I'm surprised to see the Biden Administration EPA moving forward right now with a rule proposed during the Trump Administration to allow states to take over responsibility for the permitting of "dredge and fill" activities...more
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rulemaking on Jan. 18, 2023, revising the definition of "Waters of the United States" (WOTUS) within the Corps1 and...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
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
Once again, developers and other interested parties are grappling with yet another District Court decision regarding the definition of Waters of the United States. On August 30, 2021, the Federal District of Arizona vacated...more
On August 30, 2021, the United States District Court for the District of Arizona issued an order vacating the Navigable Waters Protection Rule and remanding the rule back to U.S. EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The...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
Proposed regulatory changes will increase the extent of lands throughout the country that will be designated, and regulated, as wetlands. On June 9, 2021, the Department of the Army and the Environmental Protection Agency...more
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers published its final rule for the Reissuance and Modification of Nationwide Permits in the waning days of the Trump Administration. The final rule reissues and modifies 12 existing nationwide...more
On his first day in office, President Joe Biden issued an Executive Order titled “Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis.” The Executive Order directs the Environment...more
Each new presidential administration brings with it its own set of policy goals and priorities. While the text of U.S. environmental law does not change without an act of Congress, agencies within the executive branch have a...more
News stories and campaign rhetoric frequently create expectations of immediate shifts following an administration change, but most changes in the federal government happen slowly, and the constraint on resources and time...more