Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court curtailed the federal government’s powers to regulate private property under the auspices of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The Court in Sackett v. EPA held that “the CWA extends to only those “wetlands with a continuous surface connection to bodies that are ‘waters of the United States’ in their […]
by Michael C. Ford “Sackett” may be poised to become a part of the Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdictional lexicon, joining the likes of Rapanos, significant nexus, relatively permanent, and Solid Waste Agency of Cook County, on the tip of every Clean Water Act practitioner’s tongue. In a surprise move, the Supreme Court of the […]
by Patrick J. Paul The federal Clean Water Act created federal jurisdiction over “navigable waters” defined as “waters of the United States” (WOTUS). Since becoming law in 1972, debate over what is, and is not, WOTUS has been robust. The Supreme Court’s 2006 decision in Rapanos v. U.S. epitomized the challenges in finding consensus on […]
by Patrick J. Paul On June 9, 2021, in a move that came as a surprise only for its delay in being announced and not at all in the substance of the announcement itself, the EPA and US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) announced their intent to revise the definition of “waters of the United […]
by Farris J. Gillman On April 21, 2020, the EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finalized a new definition of waters of the United States (sometimes called “WOTUS”). This new definition has fundamental implications for the application of point source permits under Section 402 (National Pollution Discharge Elimination System) and dredge and fill permits […]
by Michael C. Ford, Lucas J. Narducci and Patrick J. Paul There is no shortage of dramatic, if not predictable, commentary in the wake of the Trump Administration’s release of its “Navigable Waters Protection Rule” (“Rule”) ranging from the indignant to the hyperbolic, and the outright inane: This bulldozing of clean water protections would be […]
by Patrick J. Paul In a long anticipated move, on Tuesday December 11, 2018 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed further revisions to the federal Clean Water Act’s definition of “waters of the United States,” (WOTUS), clawing back the number of waterways subject to federal protection that was expanded greatly during the Obama Administration […]
by Patrick J. Paul On January 22, 2018, in National Association of Manufacturers v. Department of Defense, the United States Supreme Court held unanimously that challenges to the federal Clean Water Act’s 2015 Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rule should be adjudicated at the federal District Court level and not the appellate level, the venue […]
by Patrick J. Paul Although likely to survive a presidential veto of a joint resolution seeking to nullify the June 29, 2015 rule submitted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers amending the definition of “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act, this rule is starting […]
