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
In this episode of Digging Into Land Use Law, Byron Gee, Willis Hon and Sara Johnson review in detail the recent Supreme Court opinion in City and County of San Francisco vs. EPA and its implications for Clean Water Act...more
The Agency Is Looking to Sackett v. EPA for a More ‘Durable’ Definition - From Obama to Trump to Biden, each of the last three administrations has directed the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) to...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
On March 24, 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published plans to seek stakeholder input on implementing a new definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The EPA’s goal...more
Just two months into President Trump’s second term, project applicants are navigating a series of changes to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404 permitting. Upon his inauguration, President...more
The Environmental Protection Agency announced March 10 it will be revising the definition for the Waters of the United States Rule (WOTUS). In a news release it said, “[t]he agencies will move quickly to ensure that a revised...more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (collectively, “EPA”) issued guidance on March 12th entitled: Memorandum To The Field Between The U.S. Department Of The Army,...more
On March 12, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army took steps to address lingering questions about the meaning and implementation of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS)...more
The Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rule is an ongoing conundrum to all those subject to it, most especially in trying to ascertain exactly which water ways qualify under the Rule. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency...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
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
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
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
The Supreme Court of the United States issued one decision today: City and County of San Francisco v. EPA, No. 23-753: This case concerns the interpretation of the federal Clean Water Act (“CWA”) and its National...more
In Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Supreme Court held that Clean Water Act-regulated “waters of the United States” (“WOTUS”) are limited to relatively permanent bodies of water connected to traditional...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
Sam Hess of Inside EPA and many others are writing about EPA's Halloween Trick or Treat – the publication of a draft Clean Water Act NPDES General Permit that would apply to “commercial, industrial and institutional”...more
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (“Court”) addressed in an August 15th Opinion a Clean Water Act jurisdictional question. See United States v. Chameleon, LLC, No. 3:23-CV-763–HEH, 2024 WL...more
Today the United States Supreme Court heard from lawyers representing the City and County of San Francisco and lawyers for the United States Environmental Protection Agency on the question of whether a “narrative standard”...more
The Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment of the United States House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a September 11th hearing titled: Waters of the United States Implementation...more
Judge Boyle of the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina has denied the Pacific Legal Foundation's client an injunction against EPA's and the Corps of Engineers' most recent Waters of the United...more
The United States Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) Vicksburg District issued a May 29th Special Public Notice (“SPN”) styled: Vicksburg District Regulatory Update - ...more
Several “red” states and three energy industry NGOs have filed a motion for summary judgment in their Louisiana Federal Court challenge to EPA's 2023 rule regarding the state water quality certifications required under...more
As predicted in February, our nation's highest court is about to hear its third Clean Water Act in four years. Anyone who doubts the outcome of this case hasn't read the other two Supreme Court opinions and that brings to...more
EPA issued a press release yesterday that caught my eye and if you're in the business of building things, including solar projects, it is worthy of your attention too. The press release announces a settlement between a solar...more