The D.C. Circuit upheld FERC's approval of a dam operator's flood protection plan for a nearby water pump station in North Carolina. A city petitioned for review of FERC's approval of the plan, a state-imposed condition of its water quality certification under the CWA, which involved raising the pum...

The Tenth Circuit reversed a district court's denial of a motion to dismiss a CWA citizen suit concerning the release of contaminated water from an inactive gold mine in Colorado. Nearby farmers filed suit in a New Mexico district court, alleging several state-law claims. A hazardous waste managemen...

In an en banc decision, the First Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part summary judgment for an environmental group in a CWA citizen suit against developers of a construction site in Massachusetts. The group argued the developers violated the CWA by failing to comply with the construction ge...

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court's denial of summary judgment for environmental groups in a challenge to the Forest Service's allowance of livestock grazing in the Stanislaus National Forest. The groups argued the grazing led to fecal matter runoff that polluted streams in the area, impai...

The U.S. Supreme Court, 5-4, granted states' and industry groups' application for an emergency stay of a district court ruling that had vacated the 2020 Clean Water Act 401 Certification Rule. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Kagan asserted the states and groups had failed to show they would suffer ...

A district court dismissed as moot a challenge to EPA's and the Army Corps of Engineers' 2015 Clean Water Rule interpreting the phrase "waters of the United States." Ohio and Tennessee argued the 2015 rule improperly expanded the definition of "waters of the United States," giving the agencies the p...

A Minnesota appellate court affirmed in part and reversed in part the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's (MPCA's) issuance of a permit for a copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota that would allow discharging water from mine facilities. Environmental groups and a tribal band argued the MPCA ...

A district court vacated EPA's denial of an environmental group's petition to issue new and revised water quality standards for the state of Washington. The group argued that EPA acted arbitrarily and capriciously in denying its petition, and sought to have the denial vacated and the petition remand...

The Ninth Circuit remanded EPA's issuance of an NPDES general permit for concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in Idaho. Environmental groups challenged the permit, arguing it lacked sufficient monitoring provisions to ensure compliance with its discharge limitations. The court found that t...

A district court denied states' and industry groups' motion to stay an order vacating and remanding EPA's 2020 Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Rule, which had limited the ability of states and Native American tribes to regulate water pollution. The states and groups moved to stay the order...