88 FR 80717
EPA invited public comment to inform the domestic availability of multiple products used in the construction, alteration, and/or maintenance of water infrastructure.
88 FR 78063
United States v. ACF Industries LLC, No. 3:23-cv-1603 (D. Or. Nov. 1, 2023). Under two proposed consent decrees, settling CERCLA, CWA, and OPA defendants whose facilities along the Willamette River released hazardous substances must pay cash and/or purchase restoration credits in one or more restoration projects approved by the Natural Resource Trustees to create habitat for injured natural resources, and make payments for the public’s lost recreational use of the river, for monitoring of culturally significant plants and animals, and for reimbursement of the Natural Resource Trustees’ costs.
88 FR 76858
United States v. Board of County Commissioners of Hamilton County, No. C-1-02-107 (S.D. Ohio Oct. 25, 2023). A proposed material modification to a consent decree under the CAA moves two projects back in priority order; changes the descriptions and design criteria for a few projects; adds a process to the Wet Weather Improvement Plan (WWIP) to address previously unidentified CSO or SSO outfalls; adds an additional short phase of work to the WWIP’s scheduling process; and makes a few clarifying changes to other aspects of the WWIP.
88 FR 76219
The Department of Health and Human Services proposed to revise its floodplain management procedures to include climate science if an action takes place in a floodplain.
88 FR 75330
United States v. Revere, Massachusetts, City of, No. 1:10-cv-11460 (D. Mass. Oct. 25, 2023). Under a proposed first modification to a consent decree, a settling CWA defendant must update portions of its Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan and Comprehensive Stormwater Management Plan by December 31, 2026.
88 FR 75282
EPA announced the preliminary designation of stormwater discharges from certain commercial, industrial, and institutional sites in two watersheds in Los Angeles County, California, for regulation under the CWA NPDES permitting program.
Leveraging Earth Law Principles to Protect Ocean Rights
Communities around the world are seeking to acknowledge nature’s rights through legal tools and litigation. This Article provides an overview of recent developments in earth law movements, including Rights of Nature, Rights of Rivers, and Ocean Rights, and considers the potential impacts these ecocentric conservation measures could have on Indigenous peoples and local communities.
Federal Leadership for Relocation of Coastal Communities
More severe storm surges and rising sea levels along the coast of the United States pose a threat to coastal communities, infrastructure, and ecosystems.
88 FR 72476
EPA entered into a proposed consent decree under the CWA in Arizona Mining Reform Coalition v. Guzman (D. Ariz.) that would obligate EPA to establish copper and lead TMDLs for Queen Creek, Arizona, by July 31, 2028, unless the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality first establishes and submits them to EPA by January 31, 2027.