A district court granted in part and denied in part gasoline companies' motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit brought by the state of Maryland seeking to redress alleged contamination of its waters with methyl tertiary butyl ether. Maryland brought various common law claims and statutory claims u...

A district court vacated and remanded EPA's 2020 Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Rule, which limited the ability of states and Native American tribes to regulate water pollution. States, tribes, and conservation groups sought to have the rule vacated, and EPA moved to remand without vacatu...

The Ninth Circuit remanded a summary judgment order in a challenge to EPA's approval of Montana's variance request from approved water quality standards adopted under the CWA. An environmental group argued the Agency's approval of the variance violated the APA. A district court granted partial vacat...

A district court granted EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers' motion to voluntarily remand the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, and granted the Navajo Nation's request that remand include vacatur. The court found the agencies' own findings demonstrated that "allowing the Rule to remain in place upo...

The Ninth Circuit vacated an NPDES permit issued by EPA for concentrated animal feeding operations in Idaho. Environmental groups argued the permit lacked sufficient monitoring provisions to ensure compliance with its "zero discharge" requirements for production and land-application areas. The court...

The Ninth Circuit, 2-1, vacated and remanded a district court ruling in a CWA citizen suit concerning a clay manufacturer's discharges. Environmental groups argued the manufacturer illegally discharged pollutants into navigable waters, failed to monitor the discharge as required by its NPDES permit,...

A Minnesota appellate court affirmed the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's (MPCA's) decision to issue a CWA §401 certification for the Line 3 crude oil pipeline replacement project. Native American tribes and environmental groups challenged the decision, arguing the MPCA failed to consider alter...

A district court vacated and remanded EPA's and the Army Corps of Engineers' Navigable Waters Protection Rule, which established a new definition of "waters of the United States" under the CWA. EPA and the Corps sought voluntary remand of the rule without vacatur to give them time to revise or repla...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for EPA in a challenge to a compliance order stating that landowners' property in Idaho contained wetlands subject to CWA protection and directing them to remove fill and restore the property to its natural state. The appellate court concluded that EPA rea...

A district court granted summary judgment for an environmental group in a challenge to EPA's regulations for oil spill dispersants. The group argued that EPA violated the CWA by failing to issue a final rule updating the NCP for addressing oil spills in light of new information showing the chemicals...