A district court denied motions to remand and vacate EPA's decision to allow a no-discharge zone in Puget Sound. A tugboat, towboat, and barge industry group argued that EPA erred in determining that adequate pump-out facilities were reasonably available without considering the compliance costs for ...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed judgment for environmental groups in a CWA challenge to compel EPA to develop and issue long-overdue temperature TMDLs for the Columbia and Snake Rivers. The groups argued that inaction by Oregon and Washington to issue TMDLs for the two rivers amounted to a "constructive ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

The Eleventh Circuit affirmed a district court decision upholding the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' issuance of four CWA §404 permits to a fertilizer manufacturer engaged in phosphate mining in Florida. The district court found nothing arbitrary or capricious about the Corps’ determination that p...

The Tenth Circuit denied a motion to hold in abeyance a lawsuit concerning EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' 2015 Clean Water Rule. It did decide, however, to consider whether to dismiss the case in light of the Trump Administration's repeal and eventual replacement of the rule, and therefor...

The Ninth Circuit reversed the dismissal of a lawsuit concerning a tile drainage system in the San Joaquin Valley that discharged agricultural drainage into navigable waters without an NPDES permit. Fishermen and conservation groups argued the district court erred by placing the burden on them of pr...

The Fifth Circuit dismissed environmental groups' challenge to EPA's issuance of a CWA general permit authorizing discharges from oil and gas facilities operating in the Gulf of Mexico. Environmental groups argued that EPA violated NEPA by failing to prepare an adequate EIS before issuing the permit...