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 Welcome to Argentco.com - your authoritative source for environmental, land use and water law, regulation and policy. Our publications are written and analyzed by top practitioners in their fields, and are designed to provide thorough and timely information that is distilled for quick understanding.Use this site to identify key actions in your area of practice or interest. You can search or browse the Argentco.com Archives by Court, Location or Subject. Paid subscribers have access to full-text articles from the Argentco.com Archive. And both visitors and paid subscribers can register for our free E-mail Alert service which can be customized to cover specific subjects of interest. Our Directory will help you locate attorneys, consultants, associations and governmental agencies dealing with your area of concern.
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The Latest from Argentco.com
August 2010
The U.S. Supreme Court Addresses Judicial Taking of Property Rights
The U.S. Supreme Court recently waded into a thorny constitutional thicket by addressing, for the first time, whether the Takings Clause of the U.S. Constitution applies to the courts when they change the definition of property. Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Department of Environmental Quality, et al., Case No. 08-1151 (June 17, 2010). If the Takings Clause applies, the courts would be limited in changing the definition of property, or at least property owners would be entitled to compensation when the courts do so....
August 2010
EPA Prescribes a 'Pollution Diet' for the Impaired Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States and third largest in the world. Its watershed covers about 64,000 square miles and receives water from New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia (bay states). Given its prominence, the bay has been heralded as a "national treasure," but unfortunately, it has long suffered from the effects of heavy nutrient pollution and sedimentation....
August 2010
Update on the State Water Resources Control Board Hearings that Could Affect Riparian and Pre-1914 Rights in the Delta
The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) continues with its public hearings to determine whether to adopt cease and desist orders (CDOs) against various Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) water users. The SWRCB conducted public hearings on four (4) proposed CDOs directed at property owners on Roberts and Union Islands within the Delta in May, June, and July, 2010....
August 2010
Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
Editor's Notice: Complaints and indictments discussed below are merely allegations unless they are proven in a court of law of competent jurisdiction. All accused are presumed innocent until convicted or judged liable. Most settlements are subject to a 30-day public comment period....
August 2010
District Court Finds EPA Pollution Limits Violate Clean Water Act; Vacatur Stayed to Mitigate Disruptive Effects
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has denied the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) motion for partial remand without vacatur for pollution limits promulgated by the EPA for the waters of the District of Columbia on grounds that the pollutant limits were inconsistent with the limits stated in the Clean Water Act (CWA) (33 U.S.C. Section 1251 et seq.); however, the court ordered that vacatur of the pollution limits was stayed in order to mitigate any disruptive effects of vacatur on the pollution levels in the affected waters....
August 2010
Tenth Circuit finds BLM Complied with NEPA When It Refused to Study a Phased Development Proposal as a Project Alternative
In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) prepared an environmental impact statement (EIS) to analyze amending Wyoming's Powder River Basin to allow for the private natural gas development over a ten-year period under federal leases. The EIS considered several project development alternatives, to include the no project alternative, as NEPA requires, but did not consider the appellants' request for a phased development alternative to the lessees' plans....
August 2010
U.S. Supreme Court Holds Beachfront Property Owners Are Not Entitled to Restored Beaches, Leaving Question of 'Judicial Takings' Unresolved
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Florida officials did not "take" property without just compensation when they added sand to a beach for restoration purposes, even though the filled areas separated privately owned beachfront from the water....
August 2010
Fourth District Holds Statutory Criteria for Water Supply Assessments Are Not Ambiguous--Proposed Open-Air Composting Facility Is a 'Project'
The California Court of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District held in late June that the criteria for requiring a water supply assessment (WSA) pursuant to Senate Bill (SB) 610 are plain and unambiguous as set forth in Water Code Section 10910 et. seq. and that the environmental impact report (EIR) for a proposed open air composting facility with minimal requirements for potable water in an area with no public water system, but which would occupy more than 40 acres of land, must include a WSA....
August 2010
Delta Agencies and Environmental Organizations Sue State again on Monterey Amendments to State Water Project Contracts and Kern Water Bank Transfer
A coalition of Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) water agencies and environmental groups have filed suit in Sacramento County Superior Court challenging the environmental impact report adopted by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) analyzing the so-called "Monterey Plus Amendments," amendments to contracts for the State Water Project (SWP) and transfer of title to the Kern Water Bank....
August 2010
California Legislature Considers Expanding Eligible Recipients of Sustainable Communities Funding to Special Districts, JPAs and Other Land Use Authorities
In an attempt to encourage the planning and approval of additional urban greening projects that reduce energy consumption, conserve water, improve air and water quality, and provide other community benefits to address climate change, Senator Pavley (D-Santa Monica) proposes, through Senate Bill (SB) 1006, amendments to "The Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006" (Proposition 84), as codified in the Public Resources Code. SB 1006 would broaden the entities able to receive funding for urban greening projects under Proposition 84 ($90 million) to include joint powers authorities (JPAs), councils of governments, special districts, and metropolitan planning organizations, and not just cities, counties and nonprofit organizations as previously provided....
August 2010
American Rivers Releases 2010 Endangered Rivers Report
American Rivers, a non-profit conservation organization, released the 2010 edition of its annual report, "America's Most Endangered Rivers," on June 2, 2010.. Released each year since 1986, the report seeks to spotlight the nation's ten most imperiled rivers based on three primary criteria: (1) a major decision will occur for the river in the upcoming year where the public can influence the outcome; (2) the river faces a significant threat to human or natural communities; and, (3) the river is facing a proposed action which would exacerbate or alleviate stresses caused by climate change....
August 2010
Implementing House Bill 3369--Determining 'Ecological Flows' in Oregon
The Ecological Flows Technical Advisory Committee (EFTAC) has published a review draft white paper: "Ecological Flows: A Scientific Framework for Implementing Oregon HB 3369" (white paper). The bill is based on House Bill 3369 (HB 3369), which was signed into law last summer. HB 3369's goal is to improve declining water levels in Oregon by maintaining "ecological flows" in rivers and streams....
August 2010
Colorado Supreme Court Upholds Key Piece of the City of Aurora's Prairie Waters Project
In this case, the Colorado Supreme Court upheld a Water Court decree confirming water rights for the City of Aurora's Prairie Waters Project (PWP). The Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District (NCWCD) and East Cherry Creek Valley Water and Sanitation District (ECCV) had appealed the Water Court decree....
August 2010
News from the West
In this month's News from the West, an Oregon court held that storm water permits issued to municipalities need not mandate strict compliance with the state's water quality standards....
August 2010
Battle Lines Morph on Asian Carp and Chicago Waterways System--Proposed Legislation May Change the Game
Until recently, it appeared that the battle over closing the Chicago Waterways System so that the connection between it and Lake Michigan was physically severed was a contention between the states involved....
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