The D.C. Circuit held that a home builders' association lacked standing to challenge EPA's and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' determination that two reaches of the Santa Cruz River in southern Arizona constitute "traditional navigable waters" (TNW) under the CWA. Although the association has spen...

The Sixth Circuit upheld an individual's conviction for unlawfully discharging industrial wastewater into the Detroit sewer system. The individual, who worked at an industrial waste treatment facility, was sentenced to two 24-month prison terms, to run concurrently, for knowingly violating EPA-a...

The D.C. Circuit held that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers complied with the CWA when it issued a permit authorizing the discharge of dredge and fill material into wetlands outside Tampa, Florida, for the construction of a large shopping center. An environmental group argued that the Corps violated...

A district court denied a sand and gravel company's motion to dismiss environmental and citizen groups' CWA action against it for discharging stormwater associated with industrial activity from one or more point sources at its facility to a river without a NPDES permit. The company argued that the c...

The Third Circuit affirmed a lower court decision granting summary judgment in favor of the U.S. government and imposing a $250,000 fine against a landowner for filling wetlands on his property without a permit. The court joined the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the First and Eighth Circuits in holding...

A district court held that environmental groups and water associations may intervene in a lawsuit challenging EPA's TMDL for the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit argued that the TMDL should be vacated because EPA lacked authority under the CWA to issue the TMDL, the ...

The court affirms a district court decision upholding the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' denial of a Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) §404 discharge permit to fill wetlands as part of a rubble landfill project. The court first holds that the district court did not abuse its discretion whe...

The court holds that environmental activists challenging the construction of a golf course in Lake Jackson, Texas, may not bring a Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) citizen suit action against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or bring Administrative Procedure Act (APA), National Environmen...

The court holds several corporations liable under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) for response costs associated with a New York landfill. The court first holds that by introducing competent proof that three of the defendant target corporations dispo...

The court pursuant to §505(d) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA) affirms the award of litigation costs to plaintiffs for work reasonably related to the results obtained from their FWPCA citizen suit against a lead refinery. After the plaintiffs filed their FWPCA citizen suit, the U....