I was sad to see the Law 360 report that a coalition of environmental and human rights NGOs have petitioned President Biden to pardon former attorney Steven Donzinger who was jailed for criminal contempt of court in 2021,...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
Sam Hess of Inside EPA has a fulsome report on EPA's everything but the kitchen sink attempt to avoid a nationwide freeze of its most recent definition of Waters of the United States in litigation filed by a North Carolina...more
5/13/2024
/ Clean Water Act ,
Enforcement ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Hawaii Wildlife Fund v County of Maui ,
Navigable Waters ,
NGOs ,
Sackett v EPA ,
SCOTUS ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
Sam Hess of Inside EPA is reporting that the U.S. Navy has agreed to apply for a Federal Clean Water Act NPDES permit authorizing the continuing use of the firing range at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren on the...more
Law 360 is reporting this morning on an NGO petition to the Army Corps of Engineers demanding that it not apply a Nationwide Permit covering the construction of "pipelines that transport water, sewage, and ‘other substances’”...more
Inside EPA is reporting that Potomac Riverkeeper and the United States Navy are discussing a settlement of the NGO's lawsuit alleging that the Navy's firing of munitions into the Potomac River without a NPDES permit violates...more
This week, in North Carolina Coastal Fisheries Reform Group, et al., v. Capt. Gaston LLC, a three judge panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a District Court Judge that when shrimpers use nets to catch...more
This week Massachusetts Federal District Court Judge Richard Stearns dismissed two counts of the Conservation Law Foundation's and Charles River Watershed Association's lawsuit against EPA and stayed until September of next...more
Just before the July 4th holiday, I was wondering out loud what was to be gained by having a Federal District Court decide the merits of a challenge to EPA's eighth attempt to determine the reach of the Clean Water Act. ...more
7/12/2023
/ Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
NGOs ,
Rapanos v US ,
Sackett ,
Sackett v EPA ,
SCOTUS ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands
Inside EPA is reporting that the United States Forest Service is going to work with EPA to obtain National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit coverage under the Federal Clean Water Act authorizing it to...more
Law360 is reporting that a Federal District Court Judge in South Carolina is allowing NGOs, including the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League, to continue their Clean Water Act citizen suit against the Army Corps of...more
Three Judges of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals have dismissed the American Chemistry Council's complaint challenging EPA's interim health advisory levels for PFAS in drinking water. The ACC's case was dismissed, not for...more
While many of us were focused on the 2022 elections, the Conservation Law Foundation and the Charles River Watershed Association again sued the Environmental Protection Agency because EPA isn't regulating indirect stormwater...more
This week a Federal Judge in Montana threw out a NGO's citizen suit against the Yellowstone Mountain Club for what the NGO claimed were unpermitted discharges of nitrogen to a Water of the United States. I wrote about this...more
In April of 2020 the Supreme Court of the United States answered a yes or no question with a maybe. The question: does a discharge to groundwater require a permit under the Federal Clean Water Act....more
Inside EPA's water policy maven, Lara Beaven, is reporting on the EPA's Science Advisory Board's judgment that "EPA could benefit from SAB review of the science supporting [EPA's] proposed definition of Waters of the United...more
Some of you may recall that late last year an NGO filed a lawsuit against an operator of a wastewater treatment facility in the mountains of Montana alleging that the reuse of water treated by the facility was the "functional...more
A Magistrate Judge and EPA continue to strongly disagree about the application of the Safe Drinking Water Act to septic systems and cesspools in New York State Parks. The Magistrate Judge has concluded, both before and after...more
The Natural Resources Defense Counsel has told the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that overturning a three judge panel's "faithful application" of RCRA "could restrict private parties' abilities to use RCRA to address imminent...more
Inside EPA reports that six North Carolina-based NGOs, represented by a prior EPA Deputy Administrator and Senior Policy Counsel, think EPA should modify its incredibly ambitious PFAS road map to include toxicity testing of...more
A Colorado-based NGO has dropped its 9th Circuit lawsuit challenging EPA's Multi-Sector General Permit for stormwater discharges associated with industrial facilities.
On one hand, this is a victory for EPA which...more
Last week another NGO filed suit against another operator of a wastewater treatment facility, this one in the mountains of Montana, complaining of "excess" nitrogen in the treated effluent from the wastewater treatment...more
Inside EPA reports that a Pacific Northwest NGO has asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to order the United States Environmental Protection Agency to act on the NGO's demand that EPA revoke its delegation of Clean Water...more