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
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
Both regulators and the regulated community must remain alert to accommodate the constantly changing regulatory scheme created in the post-Sackett world. The application of Maui and Sackett in recent months confirms the...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (“Fifth Circuit”) addressed in a December 18, 2023, Consolidated Opinion whether certain Louisiana wetlands were subject to Clean Water Act jurisdiction. See Lewis v....more
Garry Lewis owns 2000 acres in Livingston Parish, Louisiana and he has been fighting with the Army Corps of Engineers over whether any of those 2000 acres are wetlands subject to Federal Clean Water Act jurisdiction for over...more
As a result of the North Carolina Farm Act of 2023 (Session Law 2023-63), North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ or the Department) may now only regulate wetlands that are subject to federal Clean Water...more
For decades, developers and environmental groups have disagreed about the scope of the Clean Water Act. The definition under scrutiny – the “Waters of the United States”, also known as WOTUS, establishes the geographic scope...more
On September 8, U.S. EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers published a final conforming rule amending the definition of “waters of the United States” in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Sackett decision....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 September 8, 2023, the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (collectively, the Agencies) published a final rule (Agency Rule) to amend the definition of “waters of the...more
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Aug. 29, 2023, issued a final rulemaking revising the definition of "Waters of the United States" (WOTUS) within Corps1 and EPA2...more
On July 12, 2023, Shortly after the Supreme Court’s ruling in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA and the Department of the Army issued a letter advising the ranking member of the Senate’s Committee on Environment...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
Using a rarely invoked exception to the Administrative Procedure Act’s requirement for public notice and comment prior to issuing a new rule, the EPA set forth a new rule governing jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act...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
Sam Hess's report in Inside EPA paints a nuanced picture of the apparently never ending controversy over the reach of the Clean Water Act. I can't help but offer a few reactions....more
The United States Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Corps of Engineers (collectively “EPA”) issued a pre-Federal Register publication final rule on August 29th revising the Clean Water Act definition of...more
On August 29, the Environmental Protection Agency announced its final rule amending its definition of “waters of the United States.” This new definition was written to conform with the Supreme Court’s May 24, 2023 ruling in...more
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the final Clean Water Act (CWA) rule (New Rule) to comply with the US Supreme Court decision in Sackett v. EPA, 598 U.S. _, 143 S. Ct. 1322 (2023) (“Sackett”). This is a...more
On August 29, 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) released a revision to the definition of water of the United States (WOTUS) that significantly curtails the agencies’ authority...more
On August 29, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) (collectively, the Agencies) released their amendment to January 2023 rule (January 2023 Rule) defining what...more
Ahead of schedule, yesterday EPA and the US Army Corps of Engineers published their tenth attempt to specify the reach of the Federal Clean Water Act. The only question now is will its opponents file amended complaints in...more
On August 29, 2023, the U.S. EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced a pre-publication version of their final rule amending the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) in response to the Sackett v. EPA...more
JULY WOTUS UPDATES: On July 12, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sent a letter to top Republican lawmakers, confirming that the Corps...more