The Washington Supreme Court upheld the Department of Ecology's rule that set a summertime minimum instream-flow rate for the Spokane River at 850 cubic feet per second (cfs). Environmental groups challenged the validity of the flow rate, arguing that setting minimum flows at 850 cfs exceeded the De...
The Sixth Circuit dismissed as moot a lawsuit seeking to preliminarily enjoin EPA's 2015 Clean Water Rule that clarified the definition of "waters of the United States" under the CWA. Ohio and Tennessee challenged the validity of the rule, arguing it extended the scope of the CWA beyond the reach of...
A district court denied summary judgment for New York in a challenge to EPA's designation of the eastern Long Island Sound as an open-water dredge disposal site. New York argued EPA's determination that a new site was needed to service the eastern Sound was arbitrary and capricious, that the Agency ...
A district court stayed the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, which substantially narrows the definition of "waters of the United States" that are subject to federal regulation under the CWA, in Colorado. Colorado argued that the Supreme Court's ruling in Rapanos v. United States foreclosed the appr...
A district court denied a motion for preliminary relief in a challenge to the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, which substantially narrows the definition of "waters of the United States" that are subject to federal regulation under the CWA. California argued that EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers...
The Sixth Circuit reversed, 2-1, a district court ruling that required the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to comply with the ESA and NEPA before approving an oil pipeline operator's response plans for addressing the risk of a potential oil spill. A conservation group ...
A district court denied EPA's motion to dismiss a lawsuit concerning its duty to update its National Contingency Plan (NCP) for addressing oil and hazardous substance contamination. Environmental groups argued that the current NCP is dangerous because it continues to permit the use of chemical dispe...
Section 401 certification and permit conditioning under the Clean Water Act is one of the most significant tools for states to influence federally permitted activities involving discharges into navigable waters. However, states are required to set conditions within one year or they forgo their ability to do so. In practice, the one-year review is difficult for states to meet and led to a common practice known as “withdraw and resubmit” in which states could reset the clock. But in Hoopa Valley Tribe v. Federal Energy Regulatory Comm’n, the D.C.
A district court dismissed a challenge to a pipeline company's failure to seek a CWA permit for construction of a natural gas pipeline in Pennsylvania. A conservation group argued the company violated the CWA by failing to obtain an NPDES permit for its stormwater discharges after construction began...