The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) on March 22, 2024, announced its plans for enhancing the protection of the country's wetlands following the U.S. Supreme Court's Sackett v. EPA decision. In Sackett, the Supreme Court...more
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Sackett case in May of 2023, the U.S. EPA (“EPA”) and the U.S. Army Corps (“Army Corps”) have amended federal regulations to conform to Sackett and the Army Corps has resumed...more
One hundred eighteen Democratic members of the United States House of Representatives (“House”) introduced legislation titled: Clean Water Act of 2023(H.R. 5983) The stated purpose of H.R. 5983 is to address the...more
Following years of administrative rulemaking and litigation, on September 8, 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) released a revision to the definition of waters of the United...more
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers recently announced a revised and final rule amending the definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS) following the Supreme Court decision in Sackett v....more
On August 29, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a final rule revising the meaning of “waters of the United States” under the federal Clean Water Act (CWA). The revised...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 U.S. Supreme Court recently issued an opinion in Sackett v. EPA that established a stricter test for whether the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) applies to a wetland. The test limits federal jurisdiction to wetlands with a...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
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in on a long-standing controversy over the extent to which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE; collectively, the Agencies) have...more
On May 25, the Supreme Court of the United States significantly narrowed the scope of wetlands protected by the Clean Water Act (CWA or Act). The Court held that only wetlands indistinguishable from Waters of the United...more
On May 25, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) made its final decision on a long-running case that will redefine the power and authority that the United States Environmental Protection agency (EPA) will have to...more
In a 5-4 decision issued on May 25, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the applicability of federal Clean Water Act regulatory authority over wetlands that have a relatively permanent connection to other federal waters....more
The Court’s decision has prompted the US Army Corps of Engineers to freeze jurisdictional determinations for permitted activities pending additional guidance. On May 25, 2023, by a narrow 5-4 majority, the US Supreme...more
On May 25, 2023, after more than 15 years of fighting, a couple contesting the Environmental Protection Agency’s assertion of jurisdiction over their residential lot as “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean...more
On May 25, 2023, the United States Supreme Court held that the term “waters of the United States” (“WOTUS”)—as used in the federal Clean Water Act (“CWA”), 33 U.S.C. § 1362(7)—means “streams, oceans, rivers, and lakes” and...more
On May 25, 2023, the United States Supreme Court issued its long-awaited opinion in Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, diving back into a decades-long debate over the definition of “waters of the United States”...more
After many decades of uncertainty around the meaning of “the waters of the United States” (WOTUS), the United States Supreme Court narrowed the definition of WOTUS under the Clean Water Act (CWA) in its opinion on May 25,...more
In Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, decided at the end of May, the Supreme Court substantially reduced the reach of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The issue before the Court was how far the Environmental Protection...more
Following years of administrative rulemaking and litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court published a much-anticipated decision interpreting what is a water of the United States (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act (CWA). On May 25,...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has issued its opinion in the landmark Clean Water Act (“CWA”) case of Sackett v. EPA, No. 21-454 (May 25, 2023). This decision delivers a significant change in terms of the reach and jurisdiction of...more
On May 25, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Sackett v. EPA which substantially narrows the reach of Section 301(a) of the Clean Water Act (CWA), a provision that prohibits certain discharges of pollutants to...more
On May 25, 2023, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Sackett v. EPA,effectively narrowing the scope of federally protected wetlands to which the Clean Water Act (CWA) applies. The CWA provides the U.S. Army Corp of...more
Few five-word phrases have vexed the justices of the United States Supreme Court more than “waters of the United States” as used in the Clean Water Act (CWA or Act). The Court has attempted to define the term, and thereby the...more
In a highly anticipated and consequential decision, the U.S. Supreme Court stripped the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority to regulate an estimated half of the nation’s wetlands under the Clean Water Act (CWA)....more