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 Region 6 Office of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) sent a March 27th letter to Stacie Wassell, Associate Director for the Office of Water Quality at the Arkansas Department of Energy and...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 Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment - Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) published a public notice on December 9th stating that the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission (“APC&EC”) initiated...more
In recent years, a consistent issue facing hydroelectric project developers at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) has been the length of time it takes states to act on requests for water quality...more
Co-Author Jordan Wimpy The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) transmitted a letter to the Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment – Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) addressing the State’s...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
This week our nation's highest court was scheduled to discuss whether to hear the City and County of San Francisco's appeal of a split Ninth Circuit decision upholding an EPA NPDES permit issued to the City and County...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
EPA is publishing its final rule specifying the role of States and Tribes in the Federal licensing or permitting of activities that may result in a "discharge" into a "Water of the United States". Like EPA's recent tenth...more
On December 30, 2022 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and the U.S. Department of the Army (“Corps”) (collectively referred to as the “Agencies”) under the Biden Administration released a pre-publication...more
The Southern Environmental Law Center and Natural Resources Defense Council (collectively, “SELC”) filed a joint Amicus brief in the Supreme Court of the United States appeal styled: Michael Sackett, et ux. v. U.S....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 New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (“NEIWPCC”) announced it has updated a water quality standards matrix addressing seven northeastern states. The water quality standard matrix compares how...more
This is Part 3 in a five-part series addressing the recent changes in legal standards regulating water resources in the United States. Part 3 examines the requirements and limitations on water quality certifications to be...more
Northwest Environmental Advocates (“NEA”) filed a September 26th Clean Water Act Citizen Suit Action in United States District Court alleging that the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) 2016 approval of...more
A controversial federal environmental regulation has been repealed, according to an announcement Sept. 12 by the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the assistant secretary of the Army who oversees...more
The Environmental Protection Agency issued a 163-page proposed rule on August 9, 2019, to clarify the substantive and procedural requirements for water quality certifications under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act....more
Frustrated by some states’ use of their Clean Water Act (CWA) section 401 authority to oppose or delay energy projects—particularly the transportation of fossil fuels—the Trump Administration last Friday issued the second...more
On April 10, 2019, President Trump issued a pair of Executive Orders aimed at streamlining Clean Water Act permitting of the nation’s energy infrastructure. The Executive Order on Promoting Energy Infrastructure and Economic...more
Environmental and Policy Focus - U.S. Supreme Court allows pre-permit challenges to approved jurisdictional determinations - Allen Matkins - May 31 - In a major new legal development for the Clean Water Act's...more
On October 9th, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a nationwide stay precluding implementation of controversial new rules issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of...more