The Fourth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision denying an environmental group's motion to intervene in a poultry farmer's lawsuit against EPA. In that case, the farmer seeks a declaratory judgment that farmyard stormwater runoff is statutorily exempt from regulation as an agricultural stormwater...

A district court upheld a CWA §404 permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the construction of a large marine transfer station near the upper east side of New York City. A group of residents filed suit challenging the permit, claiming that the Corps' issuance of the permit was arbitra...

The First Circuit vacated and remanded a lower court decision dismissing environmental groups' CWA claims against the operators of four hydroelectric dams along the Kennebec River. The groups alleged that the operators are in violation of their water quality certifications, and thus the CWA, because...

The Fourth Circuit held that a coal company may not assert the CWA's "permit shield" defense for discharges of selenium when it failed to disclose the presence of this pollutant during the permit application process. The company argued that because it disclosed the pollutants that it knew or had rea...

The D.C. Circuit upheld EPA's and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Enhanced Coordination Process memorandum, which concerns CWA §404 mining permit applications, as well as an EPA guidance document relating to such permits, against challenges from the mining industry and two states. The Enhanced Co...

A district court upheld a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit issued under CWA §404 for a railroad extension project in an area surrounded by wetlands. Two functional assessments were prepared for the project. An environmental group argued that the second functional assessment, which was performed ...

A district court held that an environmental group lacked standing to challenge a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit issued to an oil company to fill certain wetlands in the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska for a future drill site. The group's members have not demonstrated the requisite injury in...

A district court held that a Hawaiian county illegally discharged wastewater into the ocean through groundwater injection wells in violation of the CWA. An environmental group sued the county, seeking to compel it to apply for and comply with the terms of an NPDES permit, and to pay civil penalties ...

A district court held that mining companies discharged excessive amounts of ionic pollution, measured as conductivity, into the waters of West Virginia in violation of their federal NPDES and state surface mining permits. The companies argued that the court could not rule in the groups' favor becaus...