Federal judge rejects injunction against EPA in North Carolina Clean Water Act wetlands dispute

The Carolina Journal – June 19

In an order filed Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle denied a private property owner’s effort to enjoin the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers from enforcing their September 2023 final rule redefining “waters of the United States” and “adjacent wetlands,” to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Sackett v. EPA. Judge Boyle rejected the argument that the agencies need to establish both that the wetland be “indistinguishable” from and also have a “continuous surface connection” to jurisdictional “waters of the United States” to establish it as an “adjacent wetland” regulated under the Clean Water Act. The court ruled that establishing a continuous surface connection, which the rule requires, is all that is required under Sackett.

News

A California bill made removing toxic soil more expensive; some say it’s a tax on housing

San Francisco Chronicle – June 6

Senate Bill 158, signed into law in 2021, restructured and increased fees relating to the handling of hazardous materials, pumping $500 million into the investigation and cleanup of contaminated properties in the state and generating an additional $104 million annually in revenue for the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC). Among other changes, the bill increased the cost of removing and disposing of contaminated dirt, including excavations for the development of new housing, which some builders and nonprofits claim has amounted to a “tax on housing.” In some cases, surprise double payments arising from the law’s right for the government to “look back” and adjust fees to be applied to projects that broke ground in 2021 ran into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Kern pistachio farmer ordered to pay $30 million in back fees to high desert groundwater agency

SJV Water – June 18

An Orange County court last Friday approved an injunction requiring Mojave Pistachios LLC to pay $30 million in back fees allegedly owed to the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority for pumping groundwater without an allocation in Kern County’s eastern desert. The $30 million is based on a $2,130-per-acre-foot fee for non-allocated pumping that was established by the authority in its groundwater sustainability plan and approved by the state in 2022. Mojave Pistachios objected to the fee and had declined to pay it; in a related action, the company alleges that the water authority’s actions amount to an “illegal taking” action of its alleged water rights.

California environmental groups appeal court ruling in favor of plan to build new reservoir

The Sacramento Bee – June 17

A coalition of environmental groups has appealed a court’s rejection of their challenge to California’s plan to build the Sites Reservoir north of Sacramento. The groups argue that the project would harm Sacramento River ecosystems and threaten imperiled fish species. In May, a Yolo County Superior Court judge ruled against the groups, determining that the project’s environmental review was sufficient. Before construction begins, the project must still acquire a multitude of state and federal permits, including pursuing a water rights application with the State Water Resources Control Board. That public proceeding, which began on Monday and will likely continue through October, will consider fish and wildlife protection.

This giant freshwater fish — North America’s largest — gains California protection

CalMatters – June 19

California’s Fish and Game Commission on June 19 unanimously approved white sturgeon, the largest freshwater fish in North America, as a candidate for listing under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA). That action launches a review by the Department of Fish and Wildlife that is expected to take at least a year. The species will be protected under CESA until the Commission makes a final decision whether to list it as threatened or endangered. The decision comes in response to a petition filed by a coalition of environmental groups and the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance. California’s wild white sturgeon migrate between San Francisco Bay and the rivers of the Central Valley. The fish reproduce every six to seven years and have recently come under pressure from algae blooms and droughts conditions.