The Case for a Legislated Market in Minimum Recycled Content for Plastics
The plastic packaging industry faces mounting shareholder and public pressure to reduce the environmental impact of post-consumer plastic packaging. The recycled plastics market in the United States is positioned for growth; however, developing a reliable supply of post-consumer plastics will be expensive because of problems in the recycling market. Reliance on export markets has limited investment in domestic recycling capacity, local collection programs vary considerably, and many consumers are ignorant about what can be recycled.
Reissuance of an NPDES/SDS Permit to U.S. Steel Corp.
A state appellate court reversed the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's decision to reissue a NPDES permit for an iron ore mine in northeast Minnesota. An environmental group and Indian band challenged the decision, arguing that the agency erred in its interpretation of the CWA and that the permit...
Puget Soundkeeper Alliance v. Wheeler
A district court held that environmental groups lacked standing in their challenge to EPA's exclusion of certain waste treatment systems from the definition of navigable waters under the CWA. The groups argued that they had representational standing to challenge the exclusion, relying on declaration...
Conservation Law Foundation v. Longwood Venues & Destinations, Inc.
A district court upheld EPA's interpretation that the CWA does not regulate discharges into groundwater that is hydrologically connected to navigable waters in a lawsuit concerning a wastewater treatment facility on Cape Cod. An environmental group argued that the facility was discharging pollutants...
Blue Water Baltimore v. Wheeler
A district court denied summary judgment in a challenge to EPA's approval of Maryland's 2018 water quality report, which reclassified 139 impairment listings based on TMDLs set by the Agency for the entire Chesapeake Bay. Environmental groups argued that EPA exceeded its authority under the CWA by a...
Overboard? The Complexity of Traditional TMDL Calculations Under the Clean Water Act
The Clean Water Act (CWA) requires states to calculate total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) of individual pollutants that impair their waters.