EPA Region 6 announced an initial revised designation determination that stormwater discharges from the Los Alamos Urban Area (as defined by the latest decennial Census) and Los Alamos National Laboratory property in Los Alamos County and Santa Fe County, New Mexico, are contributing to violations of New Mexico water quality standards and require NPDES permit coverage under the CWA.
U.S.-Canadian management of marine migratory species is a particularly rich place to understand the complex relationship between migratory science, conservation, and law. The two nations share a large border, have a long-lasting historic friendship, and already collaborate extensively. However, the relationship is not without contention. The substantial economic interests in the oceans and differences in governance structure have not infrequently frustrated efforts at cooperative management.
On August 29, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a direct final rule that revised the “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) definition rule. This rule amended the final WOTUS rule, previously published in January 2023, to be consistent with the Supreme Court’s May decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency. On September 14, the Environmental Law Institute hosted a panel of experts to analyze the new rule and discuss its regulatory and policy consequences.
FWS determined threatened species status under the ESA for the distinct population segment of the North American wolverine occurring in the contiguous United States, and issued a §4(d) rule that provides the prohibitions, and exceptions to those prohibitions, necessary and advisable for the conservation of the species.
NMFS withdrew its November 27, 2020, proposed rule to designate 17 island units of critical habitat in the Pacific Islands Region for seven Indo-Pacific coral species listed under the ESA, and proposed a new rule to designate critical habitat for five of the seven coral species that were addressed in the 2020 proposed rule.
FWS announced findings that the following seven species are not warranted for listing as endangered or threatened species under the ESA: Edison's ascyrum, Florida (lowland) loosestrife, Florida pinesnake, mimic cavesnail, northern cavefish, smallscale darter, and Texas troglobitic water slater.
United States v. Electron Hydro, LLC, No. 2:20-CV-1746-JCC (W.D. Wash. Nov. 20, 2023). Under a proposed consent decree, settling CWA defendants whose construction activity at a hydroelectric facility on the Puyallup River in Pierce County, Washington, allegedly involved illegal discharges into waters of the United States and violations of Army Corps of Engineers and state of Washington permits must pay a $1.025 million civil penalty, conduct surveys of stretches of the Puyallup River to recover discharged materials, implement best management practices at the construction site, hire a separate firm to review upcoming permit application materials, and place a 72-acre parcel of land into conservation in perpetuity.
All 10 EPA regions seek comment on the draft 2026 NPDES pesticide general permit, which covers point source discharges from the application of pesticides to waters of the United States.
EPA announced the availability of draft guidance on applying the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund in the CWA §402 NPDES permit program for point source discharges that travel through groundwater before reaching a water of the United States.
FWS reopened the comment period on its October 18, 2022, proposed rule to list the Kern Canyon slender salamander and the relictual slender salamander under the ESA and to designate critical habitat, in order to allow opportunity for interested parties to comment on the new areas the Agency is considering for relictual slender salamander critical habitat, small changes to Kern Canyon slender salamander critical habitat, and updates to the physical or biological features for the Kern Canyon slender salamander.