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60 Day Notice of Intent to Sue
August 2008: Columbia and Snake River Basin Salmon Litigation Likely to Begin Anew
January 2005: Environmental Groups Claim PG&E Is Required to Obtain NPDES Permit for Diverting Water from the Eel River to the Russian River in California
Adjacent Waters
October 2007: Ninth Circuit Holds Water-Filled Quarry Adjacent to the Russian River Has a Significant Nexus with Waters of the U.S. Northern California River Watch v. City of Healdsburg, ___F.3d___ 04-15442 (9th Cir. Aug. 6, 2007)
May 2007: News from the West
April 2007: Ninth Circuit Determines Best Management Practices May Be Used Instead of Numerical Limits For Storm Water Discharges San Francisco Baykeeper v. Cargill Salt Division, ___F.3d___ 04-17554 & 05-15051 (9th Cir. March 8, 2007)
November 2006: Seventh Circuit to Follow Justice Kennedy’s Concurrence (Usually) when Applying Rapanos U.S. v. Gerke Excavating, Inc., ___F.3d___ 04-3941(7th Cir. Sept. 22, 2006)
November 2006: Ninth Circuit Holds that Discharge of Effluent to Man-Made Pond Adjacent to Russian River Requires a Permit under the Clean Water Act Northern California River Watch v. City of Healdsburg, ___F.3d___ 457 F.3d 1023 (9th Cir. 2006)
October 2006: Ninth Circuit Applies Rapanos and Holds City of Healdsburg’s Wastewater Discharge into Former Mining Pond Subject to Clean Water Act Northern California River Watch v. City of Healdsburg, ___F.3d___ 04-15442 (9th Cir. Aug. 10, 2006)
August 2006: U.S. Supreme Court, In Plurality Opinion, Fails to Resolve Critical Issue of Jurisdiction under Clean Water Act, Instead Reaffirming Existing ‘Significant Nexus’ Standard Rapanos v. United States; Carrabel v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___U.S.___ 126 S.Ct. 2208 (U.S. June 19, 2006)
August 2006: Remanded: U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Federal Jurisdiction over Wetlands with Nexus—But Leaves Questions Unanswered
August 2006: Rapanos v. United States—Carabell v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: A Regulatory Scheme, a Splintered Decision and a Court in Flux
January 2006: Welcome to the Supreme Court: Chief Justice Roberts Will Address the Scope of the Clean Water Act in Two Wetlands Cases
December 2005: Wetlands, Commerce and Jurisdiction: The Clean Water Act before the Supreme Court
January 2005: Sixth Circuit Further Defines ‘Adjacent Wetland’ Jurisdiciton under the Clean Water Act Carabell et al. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, et al., ___F3d___ 03-1700 (6th Cir. Sept. 27, 2004)
Administration
February 2010: EPA Targets an Ambitiously Broad New Class of Stormwater Dischargers
August 2009: The Clean Water Act 2009: Mid-Year Report
August 2009: The U.S. Supreme Court Upholds a Corps Issued Clean Water Act 404 Permit in Lieu of a 402 Discharge Permit for Gold Mine Slurry Wastewater
July 2009: California State Water Resources Control Board Issues Draft Construction General Permit Regulating Storm Water Discharges
July 2009: City of Fairbanks Seeks Supreme Court Review of Ninth Circuit’s Decision Regarding the ‘Finality’ of Clean Water Act Jurisdictional Determinations
July 2009: Eleventh Circuit Charts a New Course on Water Transfers—What About the Water Transfer Rule?
May 2009: U.S. Supreme Court Upholds EPA’s Clean Water Act Cost-Benefit Analysis Entergy Corporation v. Riverkeeper, Inc. ___U.S.___ 07-588, 07-589, 07-597 (April 1, 2009)
February 2009: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers Revise Clean Water Act Regulatory Definition Relating to Incidental Fallback Revisions to the Clean Water Act Regulatory Definition of ‘Discharge of Dredged Material’: Final Rule 73 Fed. Reg. 79641 (Dec. 30, 2008)
February 2009: U.S. EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Issue New Guidance on Clean Water Act Jurisdiction
August 2008: Internal U.S. EPA Memo Details Clean Water Act Enforcement Problems: Congress Asks Questions
August 2008: U.S. EPA Reissues Construction General Permit as an Interim Step in Anticipation of New Effluent Standards
August 2008: Ninth Circuit Rejects EPA’s Interpretation of Contamination under NPDES of Clean Water Act Natural Resources Defense Counsel v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 06-73217 (9th Cir. May 23, 2008)
July 2008: The State of the Clean Water Act and Its Reach—A Midyear Report
May 2008: Corps and EPA Release New Rule to Improve Compensatory Mitigation for Wetlands and Aquatic Resources—New Rules Retain In-Lieu Fee Program Mitigation
April 2008: State Water Board to Consider Adoption of Proposed Statewide Policy for Compliance Schedules in National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
March 2008: EPA’s Latest TMDL Guidance on Daily Loads May Limit the Impact of the ‘Daily’ Issue Stemming from Friends of the Earth v. EPA
January 2008: Adrift in the Water: Key Provisions of the Water Quality Program Remain Untethered
October 2007: Maine May Regulate Discharges Pursuant to the Clean Water Act on Tribal Lands LandsState of Maine v. Stephen L. Johnson, Administrator, U.S. EPA, ___F.3d___ 04-1363 (1st Dist. Aug. 8, 2007)
August 2007: Developers Challenge New Corps, EPA Guidance for Asserting Wetlands Jurisdiction National Association of Home Builders v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, et al. 1:07-CV-00972, filed May 24, 2007, D.C. District Court
August 2007: U.S. Supreme Court Holds Section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act Inapplicable to EPA Transfer of NPDES Permitting Authority to Arizona National Assoc. of Home Builders v. Defenders of Wildlife, ___U.S.___ 06-340, 06-549 (U.S. June 25, 2007)
August 2007: New Mexico Court of Appeals Affirms State’s Water Quality Control Commission’s 2005 Amendment to Water Quality Standard Defining ‘Surface Waters of the State’ New Mexico Mining Association, et al. v. Water Quality Control Commission (N.M. Ct. App. May 10, 2007)
August 2007: Floating a New Boat on the Jurisdictional Waters—Army Corps of Engineers and EPA Issue Rapanos Guidance
May 2007: U.S. Supreme Court Denies Review of Baccarat Decision Dealing with Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Baccarat Fremont Developers, LLC v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 425 F.3d 1150 (9th Cir. 2005); cert. denied, U.S. S.Ct., Feb. 20, 2007
March 2007: Citizens Group Successfully Challenges EPA’s Implementation of CWA Regarding Cooling Water Intake Structures at Existing Power Plants River Keeper, Inc. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 04-6692-AG, 04-6693, 04-6694, 04-6695, 04-6696, 04-6697, 004- 6698, and 04-6699 (2nd Cir. Jan. 25, 2007)
March 2007: Diminishing Deference: How and Why the Courts Are Increasingly Declining to Defer to EPA NPDES Decisions and Policies
December 2006: EPA Issues Guidelines on Grant Information to Indian Tribes to Fund Pollution Control Programs under the Clean Water Act
November 2006: EPA Proposes Revisions to Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) Rule
November 2006: District Court Will Vacate 30-Year-Old Regulation Providing Exception to CWA for Shipping Vessels Northwest Environmental Advocates v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.Supp.2d___ 03-05760 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 18, 2006)
November 2006: EPA’s TMDL Guidance Following the D.C. and Second Circuit Split over the Meaning of ‘Daily’
October 2006: Issues at the Forefront of Water Quality Pollution Trading: How Agriculture, Regulation, and Market Factors Will Drive Future Trades
August 2006: U.S. Supreme Court Decides Significant Wetlands Cases with Fractured Opinion Rapanos v. United States; Carrabel v. U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, ___U.S.___ 126 S.Ct. 2208 (U.S. June 19, 2006)
August 2006: Supreme Court Fails to Fully Define the Scope of the Corps’ Jurisdiction to Regulate ‘Waters of The United States’—Justice Kennedy Issues the Controlling Opinion in Rapanos v. United States; Carabell v. United State
May 2006: The Dirt on Clean Water Act Permit Violations: Recent U.S. PIRG Study Highlights Deficiencies in Current Water Protection Policy and Enforcement
March 2006: First Circuit Holds Discretionary Function Exception of The FTCA Bars Jurisdiction where Homes Were Damaged by Dredged Material Dumped by the Corps without a Water Quality Certificate or Exemption Montijo-Reyes et al. v. United States, ___F.3d___ 05-1353 (1st Cir. Jan. 24, 2006)
May 2005: California Supreme Court Rules that Regional Boards May Not Consider Economic Factors to Justify Imposing Pollutant Restrictions that Are Less Stringent than Federal Standards City of Burbank v. State Water Resources Control Board, ___Cal.4th___ BS060957 (April 4, 2005)
October 2004: Ninth Circuit Finds U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Could Encompass Entirety of Proposed Development Site Save Our Sonoran, Inc. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, et al., ___F.3d___ 02-16156, 02-6263, 02-16355 (9th Cir. Aug. 26, 2004)
September 2004: COLORADO: Enforcement of Water Quality Regulation and Penalties
September 2004: UTAH: Enforcement of Water Penalties
September 2004: NEVADA: Enforcement of Water Quality Regulation and Penalties
September 2004: WASHINGTON: Enforcement of Water Quality Regulation and Penalties
September 2004: IDAHO: Enforcement of Water Quality Regulation and Penalties
September 2004: TEXAS: Enforcement of Water Quality Regulation and Penalties
September 2004: NEW MEXICO: Enforcement of Water Quality Regulation and Penalties
September 2004: CALIFORNIA: Enforcement of Water Quality Regulation and Penalties
September 2004: OREGON: Enforcement of Water Quality Regulation and Penalties
April 2004: Second Circuit Rules on Regulation to Limit Environmental Impacts from Power Plants and Industrial Facilities Riverkeeper, Inc. v. Environmental Protection Agency 358 F.3d 174 (2d Cir. 2004).
March 2004: Ninth Circuit Affirms Criminal Conviction under the Clean Water Act United States v. David Phillips ___F.3d___, No. 02- 30035, No. 02-30046 (9th Cir. Jan. 28, 2004).
December 2003: Ninth Circuit Rules that U.S. Environmental Protection Agency General Permit Option Violates Clean Water Act Environmental Defense Center, Inc. v. U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agency ___F.3d___, Case Nos. 00- 70014, 00-70734 and 00-70822 (9th Cir. Sept. 15, 2003).
November 2003: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Partially Approves and Disapproves California’s 2002 Clean Water Act Section 303(d) List
October 2003: Utah Governor, Mike Leavitt, Nominated to Head U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
September 2003: Utah: Issues Facing the State’s Rivers and Streams
September 2003: Oregon: Issues Facing the State’s Rivers and Streams
September 2003: New Mexico: Issues Facing the State’s Rivers and Streams
1 September 2003: California: Issues Facing the State’s Rivers and Streams xxx xxx
1 September 2003: Idaho: Issues Facing the State’s Rivers and Streams xxx xxx
1 September 2003: Washington: Issues Facing the State’s Rivers and Streams xxx
July 2003: Idaho Supreme Court Sets Aside TMDL for Failure to Comply with Idaho Administrative Procedures Act Asarco Incorporated v. The State of Idaho Case No. 27914 (Idaho April 25, 2003).
December 2001: Ninth Circuit Finds "Shall" Means "May" - EPA Decisions Regarding Enforcement Action under the Clean Water Act Are Discretionary Decisions Not Subject to Judicial Review Sierra Club, et al. v. Whitman, et al. ___F.3d___, Case No. 00-16895 (9th Cir. Oct. 2, 2001).
July 2001: Criminal Liability Is Increasing for Environmental Managers
May 2001: Sixth Circuit Upholds Daubert Standard and Rejects Plaintiff's Expert Medical Testimony Regarding PCB Exposure Nelson v. Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. ___F.3d___,Case No.99-6618 (6th Cir. Mar. 9, 2001)
February 2001: Sixth Circuit Holds District Court Must Sentence Wetlands Developer in Accordance with United States Sentencing Guidelines United States v. Rapanos ___F.3d___,No.98-2424 (6th Cir. Dec. 15, 2000)
Administrative Decisions
February 2006: Pennsylvania Judge Questions EPA’s Authority to Issue TMDLs Lower Salford Township Authority v. Commonwealth of PA Department of Environmental Protection 2005-100-K (Penn. EHB Oct. 25, 2005)
December 2005: Seventh Circuit Decides When the Government Must Pay Attorneys’ Fees Following an Administrative Action to Decide a Clean Water Act Violation Bricks, Inc. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 05-1125 (7th Cir. Oct 21, 2005)
Agricultural Exemption
June 2006: California Agricultural Water Quality Regulatory Update: Waiver Programs and Increasing Fees
June 2005: Superior Court Upholds Central Valley Regional Board’s Conditional Waiver of Waste Discharge for Agriculture DeltaKeeper v. California Regional Water Quality Control Board for the Central Valley, 04CS00235
October 2002: Eleventh Circuit Upholds Flood Irrigation Practice under Clean Water Act Agricultural Exemption Fishermen against the Destruction of the Environment, Inc. v. Closter Farms, Inc., ___F.3d___, Case No. 01-11932 (11th Cir. Aug. 7, 2002).
Aiding and Abetting Liability
July 2007: Eighth Circuit Holds Chemist May Be Personally Liable for His Participation in Employer’s Violations of the Clean Water Act U.S. v. Opare-Addo, ___F.3d___ 06-2431 (8th Cir. May 22, 2007)
Animal Byproducts
August 2005: Trends in Water Law Litigation in the Eastern United States
February 2004: The Nation’s Water Wars Head East
January 2003: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Addresses Agricultural Regulations under the Clean Water Act
December 2002: District Court: District Court in Indiana Reprimands State Agency's Sloppy Enforcement of CAFO Water Permitting Procedures Save the Valley, Inc. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. IP 99-0058-C-B/ G (S.D. Ind. Sept. 17, 2002).
October 2002: Court of Appeals: In an Issue of First Impression, the Ninth Circuit Holds that Mussel Harvesting Byproducts Are Not "Pollutants" under the Clean Water Act Association to Protect Hammersley, Eld, and Totten Inlets v. Taylor Resources,Inc., ___F.3d___,Case No.00-35667 (9th Cir.Aug.6,2002).
Animal Facilitiy Runoff
March 2008: Michigan CAFO Rules Adjudged Deficient under Clean Water Act by State Appeals Court Sierra Club, Mackinac Chapter v. Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, ___N.W.2d___ 269181 (Mich.App. Jan 15, 2008)
May 2006: Oklahoma Suit against Arkansas Poultry Industry for Illinois River Pollution Continues after Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Arkansas’ Attempt to Stop the Suit Arkansas v. Oklahoma, 126 S.Ct. 1428 133, original, rev. denied Feb. 21, 2006 (U.S.)
April 2006: aaa aaa aaa
Animal Feeding Operations
March 2006: Water Rights and Wastewater Discharge Litigation in the Eastern United States
November 2005: U.S. EPA Orders Five Southern California Dairies to Comply with Clean Water Act in the Continuing Effort to Control Discharges from Nonpoint Source Operations
Animal Grazing
February 2009: Ninth Circuit Confirms a Cow Is Not a Point Source of Discharges Requiring Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality Certification Oregon Natural Desert Association, et al. v. U.S. Forest Service, ___F.3d___ 08-35205 (9th Cir. Dec. 11, 2008)
February 2009: News from the West
March 2006: District Court Denies Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act Challenges to U.S. Forest Service Grazing Permits Center for Native Ecosystems et al. v. Rick Cables and U.S. Forest Service, ___F.Supp.2d___ 04-CV-02409-PSF-CBS (D. Colo. Jan. 9, 2006)
Antidegradation Rules
November 2008: Sixth Circuit Orders Kentucky’s Clean Water Act ‘Tier II Exemptions for De Minimus Discharges’ Remanded to EPA Kentucky Waterways Alliance, et al. v. Johnson, ___F.3d___ 06-5614 (6th Cir. Sept. 3, 2008)
Aquatic Pesticides
April 2007: EPA’s New Aquatic Pesticide Rule Leaves Wake of Uncertainty
July 2005: District Court in New York Finds Pesticide Spray Particles Released over Water Are Pollutants under the Clean Water Act No Spray Coalition, Inc. v. The City of New York, ___F.Supp.2d___ 00-6234 (S.D. N.Y. June 16, 2005)
July 2001: Application of Aquatic Pesticides: State and Federal Regulators Continue Work to Soften Impacts of the "Talent" Decision
Arsenic
May 2002: The New Arsenic Standard: A Look Forward to the 2006 Implementation of Tighter Standards by Thierry Montoya and Robert Orozco with the California law firm of Morris Polich & Purdy, LLP
Attorneys Fees
October 2009: Ninth Circuit Finds Judicially Enforceable Settlement Agreement Entitled Party to Attorney’s Fees as the ‘Prevailing Party’ under Clean Water Act Section 1365(d) Saint John’s Organic Farm v. Gem County Mosquito Abatement District, ___F.3d__ 07-35797 (9th Cir. July 16, 2009)
December 2005: Seventh Circuit Decides When the Government Must Pay Attorneys’ Fees Following an Administrative Action to Decide a Clean Water Act Violation Bricks, Inc. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 05-1125 (7th Cir. Oct 21, 2005)
December 2005: Tenth Circuit Provides Guidance on How to Determine a ‘Prevailing Party’ in Fee-Shifting Cases Browder v. City of Moab, ___F3d___ 04-4198 and 04-4206 (10th Cir. Oct. 14, 2005)
October 2005: District Court Holds Sierra Club May Recover Its Fees Using the “Catalyst Theory” under the Clean Water Act United States v. Board of County Commissioners Of Hamilton County, ___F.Supp.2d___ 1:02-CV-00107 (S.D. Ohio Aug. 23, 2005)
February 2004: Eighth Circuit Reverses District Court’s Award of Attorneys’ Fees to Plaintiff in Clean Water Act Case Sierra Club v. City of Little Rock, ___F.3d___, Case No. 03-1160, (8th Cir. Dec. 12, 2003).
May 2003: When Is an Attorney's Fee Award "Appropriate"? The Double Standard in Awarding Attorney's Fees in Environmental Citizen Suits
Backpumping
March 2006: Backpumping into Lake Okeechobee on Trial in United States District Court Friends of the Everglades, Inc., et al. v. South Florida Water Management District, et al 02-80309-CIV (S.D. Fl. in trial as of Feb. 10, 2006)
Bacteria
May 2004: Seventh Circuit Finds Discharge of Dredged Materials from a Supply Pond into a Contiguous River to Violate the Clean Water Act Greenfield Mills, Inc. v. Macklin ___F.3d___, Case No. 02-1863 (7th Cir. Mar. 19, 2004).
August 2002: Los Angeles RWQCB Proposes Draft Santa Monica Bay Beaches "Wet" Weather Bacteria TMDL
Ballast Water
January 2009: Shippers, U.S. EPA, States and Environmental Groups Remain at Odds over Ballast Water Rules, Invasive Species Efforts, and Permits
January 2008: Adrift in the Water: Key Provisions of the Water Quality Program Remain Untethered
November 2006: District Court Will Vacate 30-Year-Old Regulation Providing Exception to CWA for Shipping Vessels Northwest Environmental Advocates v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.Supp.2d___ 03-05760 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 18, 2006)
November 2006: EPA Loses its NPDES Exemption for Discharges Incident to Normal Operation of a Vessel Northwest Environmental Advocates, et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, et al., ___F.Supp.2d___ C 03-05760 IS (N.D. Cal. Sept. 18, 2006)
Best Available Technology Standard
June 2007: Can a ‘Suite’ of Technologies Constitute the ‘Best Available’ Technology under the Clean Water Act? Second Circuit Skeptically Remands EPA’s Phase II Cooling Water Intake Rules
March 2007: Can a ‘Suite’ of Technologies Constitute the ‘Best Available Technology’ under the Clean Water Act? Second Circuit Skeptically Remands EPA’s Phase II Cooling Water Intake Rules
Best Control Technology
April 2005: Second Circuit Partially Upholds and Partially Strikes Down EPA’s Concentrated Animal Feed Operation Regulations under the Clean Water Act Waterkeeper Alliance, Inc. et al v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d ___ 03-4470, (2nd Cir. Feb. 28, 2005)
Best Management Practices
April 2007: Ninth Circuit Determines Best Management Practices May Be Used Instead of Numerical Limits For Storm Water Discharges San Francisco Baykeeper v. Cargill Salt Division, ___F.3d___ 04-17554 & 05-15051 (9th Cir. March 8, 2007)
January 2007: California Court of Appeal Determines that Best Management Practices May Be Used Instead of Numerical Limits for Storm Water Discharges Divers’ Environmental Conservation Organization v. State Water Resources Control Board, ___Cal. App.4th___ DO46112 (4th Dist. Nov. 28, 2006)
Best Technology Available Standard
March 2008: News from the West
March 2007: Citizens Group Successfully Challenges EPA’s Implementation of CWA Regarding Cooling Water Intake Structures at Existing Power Plants River Keeper, Inc. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 04-6692-AG, 04-6693, 04-6694, 04-6695, 04-6696, 04-6697, 004- 6698, and 04-6699 (2nd Cir. Jan. 25, 2007)
March 2007: Can a ‘Suite’ of Technologies Constitute the ‘Best Available Technology’ under the Clean Water Act? Second Circuit Skeptically Remands EPA’s Phase II Cooling Water Intake Rules
Bills and Legislation
August 2009: Congress Proposing Changes to the Clean Water Act: Removing ‘Navigable’ from the Definition of ‘Waters of the United States’
August 2009: The Clean Water Act 2009: Mid-Year Report
January 2009: Clean Water Act Jurisdiction—2008 Year-End Report
July 2008: The State of the Clean Water Act and Its Reach—A Midyear Report
April 2008: Congressional Bills May Expand Federal Power under the Clean Water Act to Regulate Water Beyond Constitutional Limits
August 2006: Proposed Federal Legislation Would Ban Dumping of Sewage into the Great Lakes within Twenty Years—H.R. 5734: The ‘Great Lakes Water Protection Act’
May 2005: Are the Clean Water Act’s Citizen Suit Provisions Being Abused in California?
California Toxics Rule
January 2003: State Decisions: California Court of Appeal Precludes Use of "Minimum Level" Standards Application to NPDES Permit Compliance under the Clean Water Act WaterKeepers Northern California, et al. v. California State Water Resources Contro Board ___Cal.App.4th___, Case No. AO94917 (1st Dist. Oct. 24, 2002).
Carbon Dioxide
July 2009: Ocean Acidification Suit First Major Case to Bring Climate Claims under Clean Water Act
Causation
November 2006: News from the West: Clean Water Act Litigation—Federal District Courts Address ‘Navigable Waters’ with Texas’ Intermittent Creeks; ‘Ongoing’ Water Pollution from Mining in Alaska; and Collateral Estoppel Principles in Mining Pollution Case in Colorado U.S.A. v. Chevron Pipeline Co., 437 F. Supp.2d 605 (N.D. Tex. 2006); Adams v. Teck Cominco Alaska, Inc., ___F.Supp.2d___ 3:04-CV-00049-JWS (D. Alaska July 28, 2006)
Chesapeake Bay
October 2009: Federal Agencies Release Draft Reports under Chesapeake Bay Executive Order
March 2009: Chesapeake Bay Foundation Sues U.S. EPA over Clean Water Act Alleged Violations in the Bay Recovery Chesapeake Bay Foundation, et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1:09-cv-00005-CKK (D. D.C.)
Chesapeake Bay Program
January 2010: New Initiatives for Chesapeake Bay Restoration and Protection—The Government Gets Serious about the Bay
Citizen Suit Litigation Bar Provision
February 2010: District Court Allows Citizen Suit under Clean Water Act where Permit Not Modified by Consent Decree, Denies Claims Discharged in Bankruptcy Riverkeeper, Inc. v. Mirant Lovett, LLC, ___F. Supp.2d___ 05-CV-2792(CS) (S.D. N.Y. Dec. 15, 2009)
January 2010: District Court Holds Notices of Violation and Agency Investigations are Insufficient to Trigger Clean Water Act Provisions Barring Citizen Suits Gulf Restoration Network v. Hancock County Development, LLC, ___F.Supp.2d___ 1:08cv186-LG-RHW (S.D. Miss. Nov. 16, 2009)
Citizen Suits
January 2010: District Court Holds Notices of Violation and Agency Investigations are Insufficient to Trigger Clean Water Act Provisions Barring Citizen Suits Gulf Restoration Network v. Hancock County Development, LLC, ___F.Supp.2d___ 1:08cv186-LG-RHW (S.D. Miss. Nov. 16, 2009)
April 2009: Seventh Circuit Holds Clean Water Act Citizen’s Suit Barred on Res Judicata Grounds by Subsequently Initiated State Settlement Friends of Milwaukee’s Rivers and Alliance for the Great Lakes v. Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, ___F.3d___ 08-1103 (7th Cir. Feb. 13, 2009)
April 2009: District Court Decides Private Citizen Suits Are Not Barred by Previous Administrative Actions Hernandez v. Esso Standard Oil Co., ___F.Supp.2d___ 03-1485 (D. Puerto Rico, Feb. 10, 2009)
February 2009: District Court Holds Jurisdictional Prerequisites for CWA Citizen Suit Include Notice Letter to Allege the Same Claims as Complaint Fitzgibbons v. Cook and Thorburn and Hancock County Drainage Districts, ___F.Supp.2d___ 1:08-CV-165 (W.D. Mich. Dec. 8, 2008)
February 2009: Third Circuit Denies Citizens Group Private Right of Action and Constitutional Standing to Assert Clean Water Act Claim Delaware County Safe Drinking Water Coalition, Inc. v. Hanger, ___F.3d___ 07-4757 (3rd Cir. Dec. 29, 2008)
July 2008: Fifth Circuit Holds EPA’s Consent Decree Moots Clean Water Act Citizen Suit Environmental Conservation Organization v. City of Dallas, ___F.3d___ 07-10583, (5th Cir. May 27, 2008)
June 2008: Fourth Circuit finds Maryland’s State Prosecution of NPDES Violation Bars Companion Clean Water Act Citizen Suit The Piney Run Preservation Association v. County Commissioners of Carroll County, Maryland, ___F.3d___ 07-1348 (4th Cir. April 23, 2008)
March 2008: District Court Rules Unilateral State Permit Modification Orders to Mines Cannot Avoid CWA Citizen Complaints over Ongoing Violations of Original Permit Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition v. Apogee Coal Company LLC, ___F.Supp2d___ 3:07-0413 (S.D. W.Va. Jan. 24, 2008)
February 2008: Clean Water Act Citizen Suits and Preclusion Due to State Action—District Court Bars Claims on Res Judicata Grounds on Written Stipulation between State and Agency Friends of Milwaukee’s Rivers, et al, v. Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, ___F.Supp.2d___ 2:2007cv00005 (E.D. Wis. Dec. 14, 2007)
May 2007: News from the West
March 2007: Tenth Circuit Rules that U.S. EPA’s Prosecution under the Clean Water Act Precludes Citizen’s Suit and Citizen’s Notice Is Defective Karr, et al. v. Hefner, et al., ___ F.3d___ 05-7105 (10th Cir. Feb. 2, 2007)
February 2007: District Court Holds Cleanup and Abatement Order Not Subject to Clean Water Act Citizen Suit Humboldt Baykeeper v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., ___F.Supp.2___ C 06-02560 JSW (N.D. Cal. Nov. 27, 2006)
April 2006: District Court Grants, in Part, EPA’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings as to Some Claims Related to Setting of Phosphorous Discharge Standards under the Clean Water Act Miccosukee Tribe of Indians v. United States, ___ F.Supp.2d___ 04021448 (S.D. Fl. Feb. 16, 2006)
January 2006: Tenth Circuit Finds Citizen Suits under the Clean Water Act Seeking Equitable Relief Are Not Barred by Concurrent Administrative Enforcement Actions Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union and Ponca Tribe v. Continental Carbon Company, ___F.3d___ 036243 (10th Cir. Nov. 8, 2005)
November 2005: District Court in Maryland Requires Evidence of Continuous Violations for Liability under the CWA but Not under RCRA Potomac Riverkeeper, Inc. v. National Capital Skeet and Trap Club, Inc., ___ F.Supp.2d___ WDQ-05-549 (D. Md. Sept. 27, 2005)
October 2005: Tenth Circuit Rules that Passive Leaching of Pollutants from Inactive Mine may Require Owner to Obtain Clean Water Act permit Sierra Club v. El Paso Gold Mines, Inc., ___F.3d___ 03-1105 (10th Cir. Aug. 24, 2005)
October 2005: District Court Holds Sierra Club May Recover Its Fees Using the “Catalyst Theory” under the Clean Water Act United States v. Board of County Commissioners Of Hamilton County, ___F.Supp.2d___ 1:02-CV-00107 (S.D. Ohio Aug. 23, 2005)
May 2005: Are the Clean Water Act’s Citizen Suit Provisions Being Abused in California?
February 2005: District Court in Georgia Prevents Intervention by Taxpayer Group in Implementation of Clean Water Act Consent Decree. Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper Fund, Inc. v. The City of Atlanta, F.Supp.2d___, Case No 1:95-CV-2550-TWT, No 1:98-CV-1956-TWT (N.D. Ga. Dec. 7, 2004).
October 2004: Ninth Circuit Reverses District Court’s Ruling that Ten Page Notice-of-Intent to Sue under the Clean Water Act Is Invalid WaterKeepers v. AG Industrial Mfg., Inc 375 F.3d 913 (9th Cir. 2004)
June 2004: Paper Industry Fails to Obtain Interlocutory Appeal of Public Interest Group Clean Water Act Action Environmental Protection Information Center v. Pacific Lumber Company/U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.Supp.2d___ C.01-2821 (N.D. Cal. 2004).
January 2004: Second Circuit Finds that Congress Intended the Citizen-Suit Provision of the Clean Water Act to Operate Regardless of whether the Claimed Violation of CWA also Violated FIFRA No Spray Coalition, Inc. v. City of New York ___F.3d___, Case No. 02-9484 (2nd Cir. Dec. 9, 2003).
May 2003: When Is an Attorney's Fee Award "Appropriate"? The Double Standard in Awarding Attorney's Fees in Environmental Citizen Suits
December 2002: Federal Court Jurisdiction of Citizen Suits under the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act: Will the Ninth Circuit Ease the Path into Court for Citizen Plaintiffs?
December 2002: Ninth Circuit Finds Liability under the Clean Water Act May Survive the Sale San Francisco Bay Keeper, Inc. v. Tosco Corporation, Inc ___F.3d___, Case No. 01-1599 D.C. No. CV-000256-SI (9th Cir, Nov. 11, 2002)
November 2002: Ninth Circuit Finds the Threat of Environmental Harm May Confer Standing if the Harm Is "Sufficiently Concrete" Central Delta Water Agency v. United States ___F.3d___, Case No. 01-16172 (9th Cir. Sept. 26, 2002).
June 2002: Colorado District Court Finds No Reason to Stay Clean Water Act Citizen Suit, Despite Existence of Pending State Agency Proceeding on Discharge Sierra Club, et al. v. El Paso Gold Mines, Inc. ___F.Supp.2d___, Civil Action No. 01-PC-2163 (D. Colo. April 12, 2002).
January 2002: NEW MEXICO: Environmental Groups Intend to Refile Suit Contending New Mexico's Water Quality Standards Illegally Exempt Agricultural Runoffs and Fail to Protect Endangered Species Defenders of Wildlife and Forest Guardians v. United States Environmental Protection Agency CIV No. 011252 DJS/ WWD (D. N.M. filed Nov. 2, 2001)
May 2001: All Parties to a Clean Water Act Citizen Suit May Be Named in an Insurer's Declaratory Relief Action Legion Ins. Co. v. Wisconsin-California Forest Products ___F.Supp.2d___, 2001 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 1599 (E. D. Cal. Feb. 6, 2001).
May 2001: All Parties to a Clean Water Act Citizen Suit May Be Named in an Insurer's Declaratory Relief Action Legion Ins. Co. v. Wisconsin-California Forest Products ___F.Supp.2d___, 2001 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 1599 (E. D. Cal. Feb. 6, 2001)
February 2001: Ninth Circuit Affirms Citizen Suit by Environmental Group and Orders Defendant Shipyard to Correct Clean Water Act Violations Natural Resources Defense Council v. Southwest Marine, Inc. ___F.3d___,No.99-56532 (9th Cir. Dec. 19, 2000)
January 2001: Environmental Organization Members’ Use of Waterway Sufficient to Confer Standing on Behalf of Members under Clean Water Act Citizen Suit Provisions Ecological Rights Foundation v. Pacific Lumber Co., 230 F.3d 1141 (9th Cir. Oct.30, 2000)
January 2001: Environmental Organization Members Use of Waterway Sufficient to Confer Standing on Behalf of Members under Clean Water Act Citizen Suit Provisions Ecological Rights Foundation v. Pacific Lumber Co., 230 F.3d 1141 (9th Cir. Oct.30, 2000)
Civil Enforcement Actions
February 2010: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
February 2010: Eighth Circuit Finds EPA Penalty under Clean Water Act Section 1319(g) (1) for Failure to Apply for Storm Water Permit, Inappropriate Service Oil, Inc. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 08-2819 (8th Cir. Dec. 28, 2009)
February 2010: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
January 2010: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
January 2010: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
December 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
December 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
November 2009: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Sues Pennsylvania Municipal Sewer Authority over Combined Sewer Overflows
November 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
November 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalites and Sanctions
October 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
August 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalites and Sanctions
July 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
July 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
June 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
June 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
May 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
May 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
April 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
April 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
March 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
March 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
February 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
February 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
January 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
December 2008: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
December 2008: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
November 2008: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
November 2008: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
October 2008: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
August 2008: Internal U.S. EPA Memo Details Clean Water Act Enforcement Problems: Congress Asks Questions
August 2008: Home Builders Settle CWA Storm Water Violations Agreeing to Pay Penalties Totaling $4.3 Million
August 2008: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
July 2008: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
June 2008: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
June 2008: Fourth Circuit finds Maryland’s State Prosecution of NPDES Violation Bars Companion Clean Water Act Citizen Suit The Piney Run Preservation Association v. County Commissioners of Carroll County, Maryland, ___F.3d___ 07-1348 (4th Cir. April 23, 2008)
May 2008: Central Valley Regional Board Proposes $216,000 Penalty against City of Turlock for Sewage Discharge Violations California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Region, Administrative Civil Liability Complaint R5-2008-0512
April 2008: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
February 2008: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties & Sanctions
February 2008: Merck Agrees to $20 Million Settlement to Resolve Illegal Discharges U.S. v. Merck & Co., Inc. 07-cv-5239 (E.D. Pa., Dec. 13, 2007)
January 2008: Refinery Explosion in Texas and Pipeline Leaks in Alaska Lead BP to Pay $50 Million and $12 Million in Criminal Fines for CAA/CWA Violations
January 2008: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
December 2007: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
November 2007: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
November 2007: News from the West
October 2007: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
October 2007: Federal District Court in Florida Follows Up Its Prior Decision by Enjoining Some Corps Permitted Limestone Mining Sierra Club v. Strock 495 F.Supp.2d 1188 (S.D. Fla. 2007)
August 2007: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
July 2007: Kinder Morgan, SFPP Agree to Pay Nearly $5.3 Million to Resolve Federal and State Environmental Violations for Suisun, Alameda, and Donner Lake Spills
July 2007: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
June 2007: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
May 2007: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties & Sanctions
April 2007: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
March 2007: Tenth Circuit Rules that U.S. EPA’s Prosecution under the Clean Water Act Precludes Citizen’s Suit and Citizen’s Notice Is Defective Karr, et al. v. Hefner, et al., ___ F.3d___ 05-7105 (10th Cir. Feb. 2, 2007)
March 2007: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
February 2007: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
January 2007: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
December 2006: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
November 2006: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
August 2006: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
June 2006: Dallas, Texas Capitulates to EPA, Will Invest $3.5 Million in Bolstering Its Inadequate Stormwater System, and Pay $800,000 Fine
June 2006: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
May 2006: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
April 2006: aaa aaa aaa
February 2006: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
November 2005: Recent Investigations,Settlements, Penalties and Sanction
October 2005: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
Civil Enforcement and Liability
October 2006: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
March 2006: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
January 2006: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties And Sanctions
December 2005: Seventh Circuit Decides When the Government Must Pay Attorneys’ Fees Following an Administrative Action to Decide a Clean Water Act Violation Bricks, Inc. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 05-1125 (7th Cir. Oct 21, 2005)
December 2005: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
November 2005: District Court in Texas Denies Implied Right to Contribution of Indemnification under the Clean Water Act Environmental Conservation Organization v. Bagwell, ___F.Supp.2d___ 4:03-CV-807-Y (N.D. Tx. Sept. 29, 2005)
September 2005: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
Civil Liability
August 2005: Trends in Water Law Litigation in the Eastern United States
August 2005: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
July 2005: North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board Files Administrative Civil Liability Complaint against Georgia-Pacific Corporation Fort Bragg Lumber Mill
July 2005: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
May 2005: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
April 2005: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
March 2005: U.S. Supreme Court Asked to Review Another Clean Water Act Case United States v. Rapanos 376 F.3d 629 (6th Cir. 2004)
March 2005: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
February 2005: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions.
October 2004: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
September 2004: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
July 2004: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Wal-Mart Reach Major Settlement for Stormwater Violations at Construction Sites. United States of America, et al., v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. 04301 (D. Del. May 12, 2004).
June 2004: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions.
May 2004: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
April 2004: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
January 2004: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
1 December 2003: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
November 2003: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties And Sanctions
October 2003: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
August 2003: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
July 2003: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
June 2003: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
May 2003: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
April 2003: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
April 2003: Sixth Circuit Reverses Trial Court's Vacating of Clean Water Act Fine United States v. Pauley ___ F.3d ___, Case No. 012107 (6th Cir. Feb. 24, 2003).
February 2003: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
August 2002: Federal Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
October 2001: Budget Cut Threats Have Not Drowned the Reach of the Clean Water Act Borden Ranch Partnership v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___, Case No. 00-15700 (9th Cir, Aug. 15, 2001).
Civil Penaties
June 2004: Third Circuit Allows Alleged Polluter to Plead Laboratory Error Defense under Clean Water Act. United States v. Allegheny Ludlum Corporation, ___F.3d___  02-4346 (3rd Cir. April 28, 2004).
December 2002: Ninth Circuit Finds Liability under the Clean Water Act May Survive the Sale San Francisco Bay Keeper, Inc. v. Tosco Corporation, Inc ___F.3d___, Case No. 01-1599 D.C. No. CV-000256-SI (9th Cir, Nov. 11, 2002)
Clean Water State Revolving Fund
April 2009: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Tipping Point for America’s Crumbling Wastewater and Drinking Water Infrastructure?
Climate Change
May 2009: New Strategies for Injecting Climate Change Analysis into Agency Decision-Making Likely a Washout
Coal Bed Methane
March 2008: News from the West
January 2008: News from the West Montana Judge Upholds Montana’s Water Quality Standards, Pennaco Energy, Co. v. Montana Board of Environmental Review DV 06-08 (Mont. 22d Jud. Dist., Big Horn County, 2007)
June 2003: Ninth Circuit Holds Discharge of Unaltered Groundwater Is "Pollution" within the Meaning of the Clean Water Act Northern Plains Resource Council v. Fidelity Exploration and Development Company, ___F.3d___, Case No. 0235836 (9th Cir. April 10, 2003).
Coal Mining
October 2009: U.S. EPA Takes Concerted Action to Tightly Regulate Surface Coal Mine Permitting under The Clean Water Act
January 2009: Eleventh Circuit Finds CWA Citizen Suit Not Barred when Notice of Intent to Sue Is Given Prior to Commencement of Administrative Action Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Inc. v. Cherokee Mining, LLC, ___F.3d.___ 09-10810 (11th Cir. Nov. 13, 2008)
November 2002: Sixth Circuit Remands EPA Regulation as an Unreasonable Interpretation of the Clean Water Act Citizens Coal Council and Kentucky Resources Council, Inc., v. U.S. EPA, ___F.3d___ 02-3628 (6th Cir. Oct. 7, 2004)
Coastal Waters
October 2007: Center for Biological Diversity Petitions California and Eight Coastal States to Regulate Carbon Dioxide Pollution under the Clean Water Act
January 2006: Ocean Law Initiatives Will Affect Some Traditional Water Quality Issues and Wetlands Development Projects, and Present a New Frontier of Water Use Opportunities
December 2002: Legislation Requires Orange County Sanitation District Ocean Discharges to Meet Secondary Treatment Standards within Ten Years
Combined Sewer Overflows
December 2009: City of Akron Settles Lawsuit—Agrees to Sewer Overflow Reduction and Major Treatment Upgrades to Help the Cuyahoga River U.S. v. City of Akron 5:09-cv-00272 (E.D. Ohio)
November 2009: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Sues Pennsylvania Municipal Sewer Authority over Combined Sewer Overflows
April 2008: aaa aaa aaa
October 2007: Green Infrastructure: A Storm Perfected?
Compliance Reports
June 2004: Seventh Circuit Affirms Conviction for Clean Water Act Violations. United States v. Snook, ___F.3d___ 02-2304 (7th Cir. April 23, 2004).
Concentrated Animal Feeding
March 2008: Michigan CAFO Rules Adjudged Deficient under Clean Water Act by State Appeals Court Sierra Club, Mackinac Chapter v. Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, ___N.W.2d___ 269181 (Mich.App. Jan 15, 2008)
November 2006: EPA Proposes Revisions to Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) Rule
November 2005: Recent Investigations,Settlements, Penalties and Sanction
August 2005: Trends in Water Law Litigation in the Eastern United States
April 2005: Second Circuit Partially Upholds and Partially Strikes Down EPA’s Concentrated Animal Feed Operation Regulations under the Clean Water Act Waterkeeper Alliance, Inc. et al v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d ___ 03-4470, (2nd Cir. Feb. 28, 2005)
February 2003: Proposed Idaho Legislation Looks at Water Rights and the "Local Public Interest"
January 2003: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Addresses Agricultural Regulations under the Clean Water Act
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations CAFOs
February 2010: EPA Takes Steps to Implement Executive Order to Protect the Chesapeake Bay
April 2008: Lawsuit Filed Alleging End-Run of Clean Water Act NPDES Requirements for Central Valley Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations San Francisco Baykeeper, et al. v. Regional Water Quality Control Bard, Central Valley Region 34-2008-00003603-CU-WM-GDS, Sacramento County Superior Court, filed Feb. 15,2008
April 2008: aaa aaa aaa
Consent Decrees
February 2009: John Rapanos Agrees to Civil Penalties and to Provide Wetlands Mitigation for Alleged Clean Water Act Violations U.S. v. John A. Rapanos 94-CV-70788-DT (E.D. Mich.)
December 2008: District Court Dismisses RCRA Complaint on the Basis of Res Judicata of Prior Clean Water Act Case and Consent Decree Northern California River Watch v. Redwood Oil, Inc., ___F.Supp.2d___ C 08-02141 WHA (N.D. Cal. Oct. 15, 2008)
August 2008: Home Builders Settle CWA Storm Water Violations Agreeing to Pay Penalties Totaling $4.3 Million
July 2007: District Court Denies Motion to Vacate Consent Decree Resolving Water Pollution Statutes Entered into Pre-Rapanos U.S. v. Parker, ___F.Supp.2d___ 3:91CV7482 (N.D. Ohio May 2007)
May 2005: Sixth Circuit Determines Applies ‘Law of the Case’ Doctrine to Not Vacate Previously Rendered Decision Not on Appeal United States et al. v. City of Detroit et al., ___F.3d___ 04-1047 (6th Cir. March 16, 2005)
September 2002: Eleventh Circuit Finds that District Court Improperly Modified Consent Decree in Clean Water Act TMDL Case Sierra Club v. Meiburg ___F.3d___,Case No.01-14587 (11th Cir.July 2,2002).
Construction Sites
May 2007: District Court Finds Storm Water Runoff from Construction Projection Is Proper Basis for Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Patterson, et al. v. The Barden & Robenson Corporation, ___F.Supp.2d___ 04-CV-0803E (W.D. N.Y. February 16, 2007)
April 2007: State Water Resources Control Board Issues Draft Proposed Revisions to General NPDES Permit for Storm Water Discharge from Construction Sites
April 2007: District Court Finds Storm Water Runoff from Construction Projection Is Proper Basis for Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Patterson, et al. v. The Barden & Robenson Corporation, ___F.Supp.2d___ 04-CV-0803E (W.D. N.Y. Feb. 16, 2007)
August 2005: Seventh Circuit Holds that NRDC Lacks Standing to Challenge EPA’S General Permit Scheme for Construction Stormwater Discharge, but Has Standing to Challenge Procedures for Creating the General Permit Scheme Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Ass’n v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 03-3277, 03-3278, 03-3279, 03-3280, 03-3281 & 03-3865 (7th Cir. June 13, 2005)
July 2005: Sacramento County Superior Court Upholds Narrative-Based General Stormwater Permit Associated With Construction Activity San Francisco Baykeeper, et al. v. California State Water Resources Control Board 99CS01929 (Sacramento Cty. Superior Ct. May 18, 2005)
January 2005: Fourth District Holds that Courts Cannot Review SWRCB’s Decision to Decline Review of Regional Board Orders Johnson v. State Water Resources Control Board, ___Cal.App.4th___ D043278, (4th Dist. Oct. 7, 2004)
August 2004: Supreme Court Denies Certiorari to Ninth and Fifth Circuit Decisions Allowing Permitting Requirements For Discharges From Small Storm Sewer Systems and Small Construction Sites Environmental Defense Center, Inc. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 344 F.3d 832 (9th Cir. 2003)
Consultants Fees
August 2004: Puerto Rico Federal District Court Rejects Consultant’s Statutory Immunity Defense to Contribution Claims Brought under Puerto Rican Law Hernandez et al. v. Esso Standard Oil Company et al., ___F.Supp.2d___ 03-1485 JAG/GAG (D. PR June 17, 2004)
Contribution and Indemnification Rights
November 2005: District Court in Texas Denies Implied Right to Contribution of Indemnification under the Clean Water Act Environmental Conservation Organization v. Bagwell, ___F.Supp.2d___ 4:03-CV-807-Y (N.D. Tx. Sept. 29, 2005)
copper
November 2003: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Partially Approves and Disapproves California’s 2002 Clean Water Act Section 303(d) List
Cost Benefit Analysis
May 2009: U.S. Supreme Court Upholds EPA’s Clean Water Act Cost-Benefit Analysis Entergy Corporation v. Riverkeeper, Inc. ___U.S.___ 07-588, 07-589, 07-597 (April 1, 2009)
Criminal Enforcement Actions
January 2010: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
January 2010: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
October 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
October 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
July 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
July 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
June 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
June 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
May 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
May 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
April 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
March 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
March 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
February 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
February 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
January 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
December 2008: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
November 2008: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
November 2008: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
October 2008: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
March 2008: Fifth Circuit Affirms Criminal Convictions under the Clean Water Act against Corporate Land Developer and Others for Waste Discharges U.S. v. Lucas, ___F.3d___ 06-60289 (5th Cir. Feb. 1, 2008)
February 2008: District Court Seeks to Deter Clean Water Act Violations by Sentencing Violator to Five Years In Prison U.S. v. Hagerman, ___F.Supp.2d___ IP 06-139-CR-1 H/F, IP-06-139-CR-2 H/F (S.D. Ind. Nov. 28, 2007)
January 2008: Refinery Explosion in Texas and Pipeline Leaks in Alaska Lead BP to Pay $50 Million and $12 Million in Criminal Fines for CAA/CWA Violations
January 2008: District Court Finds It Impossible to Apply ‘Precedent’ Set by Supreme Court in Rapanos to Subsequent Clean Water Act Cases U.S. v. Robison, ___ F.Supp.2d___ 04-PT-199-S (N.D. Ala. 2007)
October 2007: Ninth Circuit Holds Clean Water Act Applies to Intermittent Streams U.S. v. Moses, ___F.3d___ 06-30379 (9th Cir. Aug. 3, 2007)
October 2007: News from the West
August 2007: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
June 2007: Fourth Circuit finds Mens Rea Does Not Include Knowledge of the Jurisdictional Status of Clean Water Act Affected Waters U.S. v. Cooper 482 F.3d 658 (4th Dist. 2007)
June 2007: Fourth Circuit Affirms Criminal Conviction for ‘Knowing’ Discharge under the Clean Water Act U.S. v. Cooper 482 F.3d 658 (4th Cir. 2007)
March 2007: News from the West
February 2007: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
August 2006: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
June 2006: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
May 2006: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
April 2006: aaa aaa aaa
February 2006: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
November 2005: Recent Investigations,Settlements, Penalties and Sanction
October 2005: District Court Holds Sierra Club May Recover Its Fees Using the “Catalyst Theory” under the Clean Water Act United States v. Board of County Commissioners Of Hamilton County, ___F.Supp.2d___ 1:02-CV-00107 (S.D. Ohio Aug. 23, 2005)
Criminal Liability
April 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
January 2009: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
December 2008: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
December 2007: Eleventh Circuit Applies Rapanos ‘Significant Nexus Test’ to Determine Criminal Activity for Discharges to Navigable Waters U.S. v. Robison, ___F.3d___ 05-17019 (11th Cir. Oct. 24, 2007)
December 2005: Tenth Circuit Finds the Clean Water Act Criminalizes Any Act of Negligence that Leads to Pollutant Discharge United States v. Ortiz, ___F.3d___ 04-1228, (10th Cir. Nov. 1, 2005)
September 2005: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
July 2005: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
May 2005: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
April 2005: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
March 2005: U.S. Supreme Court Asked to Review Another Clean Water Act Case United States v. Rapanos 376 F.3d 629 (6th Cir. 2004)
March 2005: Certiorari Filed for Third Time in U.S. Supreme Court in Clean Water Act Adjacent Wetlands Case United States v. Rapanos, 376 F.3d 629 (6th Cir. 2004), cert. filed, U.S. Supreme Court 04-1034, Jan. 28, 2005
March 2005: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
January 2005: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
October 2004: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
September 2004: Eighth Circuit Finds Towboat-Floating Restaurant Owners Are Not Criminally Liable under the Clean Water Act for Alleged Sewage Discharges into the Mississippi River. United States v. Templeton, Spielman, Venetian Harbors, Bonbrake, et al., ___F.3d___ O2-1284, 02-1286, 02-1510, 02-1285, 02-2775, 02-2918 (8th Cir. July 28, 2004)
September 2004: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
August 2004: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
July 2004: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions.
June 2004: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions.
June 2004: Eleventh Circuit Affirms Sentencing for Continuous Discharging of Nonhazardous Pollutants on Wetlands without a Permit. 02-16627 (11th Cir. April 20, 2004). United States v. Perez, ___F.3d___
June 2004: Seventh Circuit Affirms Conviction for Clean Water Act Violations. United States v. Snook, ___F.3d___ 02-2304 (7th Cir. April 23, 2004).
May 2004: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
April 2004: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
March 2004: Ninth Circuit Affirms Criminal Conviction under the Clean Water Act United States v. David Phillips ___F.3d___, No. 02- 30035, No. 02-30046 (9th Cir. Jan. 28, 2004).
January 2004: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
1 December 2003: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
December 2003: Sixth Circuit Reverses District Court’s Downward Adjustments to Sentence for Clean Water Act Violations United States v. Kuhn 345 F.3d 431 (6th Cir. 2003).
November 2003: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties And Sanctions
October 2003: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
August 2003: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
July 2003: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
June 2003: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
May 2003: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
April 2003: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
April 2003: Sixth Circuit Reverses Trial Court's Vacating of Clean Water Act Fine United States v. Pauley ___ F.3d ___, Case No. 012107 (6th Cir. Feb. 24, 2003).
February 2003: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
Dairy Waste
January 2003: Chino Area Dairies Settle Lawsuits; Agree to Implement Water and Air Controls
December 2002: District Court: District Court in Indiana Reprimands State Agency's Sloppy Enforcement of CAFO Water Permitting Procedures Save the Valley, Inc. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. IP 99-0058-C-B/ G (S.D. Ind. Sept. 17, 2002).
November 2002: Ninth Circuit Affirms Clean Water Act Citizen Suit against Dairy Operation Community Association for Restoration of the Environment v. Henry Bosma Dairy ___F.3d___, Case No. 01-35261(9th Cir. Sept. 16, 2002).
Declaratory Relief
January 2006: Tenth Circuit Finds Citizen Suits under the Clean Water Act Seeking Equitable Relief Are Not Barred by Concurrent Administrative Enforcement Actions Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union and Ponca Tribe v. Continental Carbon Company, ___F.3d___ 036243 (10th Cir. Nov. 8, 2005)
Deep Ripping
August 2002: Supreme Court: United States Supreme Court Grants Certiorari to Consider whether Plowing Ranchland to Prepare It for Crops Requires a Section 404 Permit under the Federal Clean Water Act Borden Ranch Partnership, et al. v. United States Army Corps of Engineers, et al., Cert Granted, 122 S.Ct. 2355(2002).
August 2002: United States Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Case Regarding Application of Clean Water Act to Deep Plowing Activities. Borden Ranch Partnership, et al. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, et al., Cert Granted, 122 S.Ct. 2355 (2002).
Definitions
March 2008: EPA’s Latest TMDL Guidance on Daily Loads May Limit the Impact of the ‘Daily’ Issue Stemming from Friends of the Earth v. EPA
August 2007: New Mexico Court of Appeals Affirms State’s Water Quality Control Commission’s 2005 Amendment to Water Quality Standard Defining ‘Surface Waters of the State’ New Mexico Mining Association, et al. v. Water Quality Control Commission (N.M. Ct. App. May 10, 2007)
May 2007: U.S. Supreme Court Denies Review of Baccarat Decision Dealing with Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Baccarat Fremont Developers, LLC v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 425 F.3d 1150 (9th Cir. 2005); cert. denied, U.S. S.Ct., Feb. 20, 2007
November 2006: EPA’s TMDL Guidance Following the D.C. and Second Circuit Split over the Meaning of ‘Daily’
November 2006: News from the West: Clean Water Act Litigation—Federal District Courts Address ‘Navigable Waters’ with Texas’ Intermittent Creeks; ‘Ongoing’ Water Pollution from Mining in Alaska; and Collateral Estoppel Principles in Mining Pollution Case in Colorado U.S.A. v. Chevron Pipeline Co., 437 F. Supp.2d 605 (N.D. Tex. 2006); Adams v. Teck Cominco Alaska, Inc., ___F.Supp.2d___ 3:04-CV-00049-JWS (D. Alaska July 28, 2006)
August 2006: U.S. Supreme Court Decides Significant Wetlands Cases with Fractured Opinion Rapanos v. United States; Carrabel v. U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, ___U.S.___ 126 S.Ct. 2208 (U.S. June 19, 2006)
August 2006: Supreme Court Fails to Fully Define the Scope of the Corps’ Jurisdiction to Regulate ‘Waters of The United States’—Justice Kennedy Issues the Controlling Opinion in Rapanos v. United States; Carabell v. United State
August 2006: U.S. Supreme Court, In Plurality Opinion, Fails to Resolve Critical Issue of Jurisdiction under Clean Water Act, Instead Reaffirming Existing ‘Significant Nexus’ Standard Rapanos v. United States; Carrabel v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___U.S.___ 126 S.Ct. 2208 (U.S. June 19, 2006)
August 2006: Remanded: U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Federal Jurisdiction over Wetlands with Nexus—But Leaves Questions Unanswered
August 2006: Rapanos v. United States—Carabell v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: A Regulatory Scheme, a Splintered Decision and a Court in Flux
June 2006: U.S. Supreme Court Holds that a Dam Raises the Potential for Discharge; State Certification of Compliance with Clean Water Act Is Required S.D. Warren Co. v. Maine Board of Environmental Protection, ___U.S.___ 04-1527 (U.S. May 15, 2006)
June 2006: District of Columbia Circuit Finds that under the Clean Water Act, the Word ‘Daily’ Actually Means Daily Friends of the Earth v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 05-5015 (D.C. Cir., April 26, 2006)
April 2006: It All Depends on What the Definition of the Word ‘Tributary’ Is—Supreme Court Hears Major Environmental Cases
April 2006: aaa aaa aaa
April 2006: aaa aaa aaa
March 2006: Second Circuit Finds Environmental Group’s Article III Standing to Sue under the Clean Water Act Must Be Established before Dismissal for Lack of Statutory Standing Alliance for Environmental Renewal, et al. v. Pyramid Crossgates Company, et al., ___F.3d___ 04-3000-CV (2nd Cir. Jan. 24, 200)
November 2005: Ninth Circuit Holds Application of Pesticides to a River Does Not Require a NPDES Permit Fairhurst v. Hagener, ___ F.3d ___ 04-35366 (9th Cir. Sept. 8, 2005)
July 2005: District Court in New York Finds Pesticide Spray Particles Released over Water Are Pollutants under the Clean Water Act No Spray Coalition, Inc. v. The City of New York, ___F.Supp.2d___ 00-6234 (S.D. N.Y. June 16, 2005)
April 2005: Supreme Judicial Court of Maine Holds that the Passing of Pollutants through a Hydroelectric Dam Constitutes a “Discharge” under the Clean Water Act S.D. Warren Company v. Maine Board of Environmental Protection Cum-04-314 (Maine Feb. 15, 2005)
September 2004: Eighth Circuit Finds Towboat-Floating Restaurant Owners Are Not Criminally Liable under the Clean Water Act for Alleged Sewage Discharges into the Mississippi River. United States v. Templeton, Spielman, Venetian Harbors, Bonbrake, et al., ___F.3d___ O2-1284, 02-1286, 02-1510, 02-1285, 02-2775, 02-2918 (8th Cir. July 28, 2004)
July 2004: The Supreme Court Decision in Miccosukee: What Was Decided and the Practical Implications of What May Follow
June 2004: Seventh Circuit Finds Discharge of Dredged Materials from a Supply Pond into a Contiguous River to Violate the Clean Water Act. Greenfield Mills, Inc. v. Macklin, ___F.3d___ 02-1863 (7th Cir.Mar. 19, 2004).
June 2004: U.S. District Court Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging “TULLOCH II” Rule National Association of Home Builders, et al., v. U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, et al., ___F.Supp.2d___ 01-0274, Memorandum and Order issued (D. D.C. March 31, 2004).
May 2004: U.S. Supreme Court Ducks Direct Decision on NPDES Requirements for Inter-Basin Water Transfers South Florida Water Mgmt. Dist. v. Miccosukee Tribe of Indians ___U.S.___, Case No. 02-626 (U.S. March 23, 2004).
May 2004: Seventh Circuit Finds Discharge of Dredged Materials from a Supply Pond into a Contiguous River to Violate the Clean Water Act Greenfield Mills, Inc. v. Macklin ___F.3d___, Case No. 02-1863 (7th Cir. Mar. 19, 2004).
March 2004: Ninth Circuit Affirms Criminal Conviction under the Clean Water Act United States v. David Phillips ___F.3d___, No. 02- 30035, No. 02-30046 (9th Cir. Jan. 28, 2004).
March 2004: Ninth Circuit Affirms Criminal Conviction under the Clean Water Act. United States v. David Phillips ___F.3d___, No. 02- 30035, No. 02-30046 (9th Cir. Jan. 28, 2004)
February 2004: Fifth Circuit Holds Waters Adjacent to Navigable Waters Subject to Oil Pollution Act In re Needham ___F.3d___, Case No. 02-30217 (5th Cir. Dec. 16, 2003).
November 2003: Federal Actions: Fourth Circuit Affirms Clean Water Act Jurisdiction over Wetlands Connected to Navigable Waters by Manmade Ditch Treacy v. Newdunn Associates, LLP ___F.3d___, Case No. 02-1480, 02-1594 (4th Cir. Sept. 10, 2003).
August/September 2003: Fourth Circuit Interprets U.S. Supreme Court Case on Isolated Wetlands under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act United States v. Deaton 332 F.3d 698 (4th Cir. 2003).
July 2003: California District Court Rules that the Clean Water Act Protects Water Bodies Adjacent to Navigable Waters San Francisco Baykeeper v. Cargill Salt Division ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. C 96-2161 SI (N.D. Cal. April 30, 2003).
October 2002: Court of Appeal: Tenth Circuit Upholds Summary Judgment for Defendant in Clean Water Act Case where there Was No Evidence of Point-source Discharge Bufford v. Williams, ___F.3d___,Case No.00-6055 (10th Cir.July 2,2002).
July 2002: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers Adopt Final Rules on "Fill" and "Discharge of Fill"
Diligent State Prosecution
February 2008: Clean Water Act Citizen Suits and Preclusion Due to State Action—District Court Bars Claims on Res Judicata Grounds on Written Stipulation between State and Agency Friends of Milwaukee’s Rivers, et al, v. Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, ___F.Supp.2d___ 2:2007cv00005 (E.D. Wis. Dec. 14, 2007)
Dioxin
June 2008: U.S. EPA Regional Administrator Resigns under Reported Threat of Termination as the Dioxin Contamination of the Tittabawassee River Continues without Resolution
November 2005: California Court of Appeal Affirms Revised Discharge Permit for Dioxin in Light of Pending Total Maximum Daily Load Communities for a Better Environment v. State Water Resources Control Board, ___Cal.App.4th___ A107572, (1st Dist. Sept. 27, 2005)
August/September 2003: California Court of Appeal Decides Question of Narrative Standards under Clean Water Act Communities for a Better Environment v. State Water Resources Control Bd. ___Cal.App.4th___, Case No. A1000327 (1st Dist. May 30, 2003).
Discharges
October 2009: Second Circuit Affirms District Court Decision Dismissing RCRA and Clean Water Act Claims against Shooting Range and Alleged Lead Contamination Simsbury-Avon Preservation Society, LLC v. Metacon Gun Club, Inc.,___F.3d___ 07-0795-cv, (2nd Cir. July 31, 2009)
November 2008: Sixth Circuit Orders Kentucky’s Clean Water Act ‘Tier II Exemptions for De Minimus Discharges’ Remanded to EPA Kentucky Waterways Alliance, et al. v. Johnson, ___F.3d___ 06-5614 (6th Cir. Sept. 3, 2008)
July 2008: District Court Reverses Decision Regarding Exemption of Timber Harvest Plans under the Clean Water Act Ogeechee-Canoochee Riverkeeper, Inc. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.Supp.2d___ 606-CV-102 (S.D. Ga. May 27, 2008)
January 2008: District Court Rejects Standing for NRDC Alleging an ‘Interest in the Protection of Water Bodies’ under the Clean Water Act National Association of Home Builders v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.Supp.2d___ 07-0972 (D. D.C. Nov. 6, 2007)
November 2007: News from the West
October 2007: Ninth Circuit Holds Water-Filled Quarry Adjacent to the Russian River Has a Significant Nexus with Waters of the U.S. Northern California River Watch v. City of Healdsburg, ___F.3d___ 04-15442 (9th Cir. Aug. 6, 2007)
October 2007: News from the West
October 2007: Pennsylvania Supreme Court finds Attorney Fees Shifting Permissible in Favor of Non-Prevailing Party in Action Challenging Clean Water Act Permit Solebury Township v. Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection 928 A.2D 990 (PA. Aug. 20, 2007)
July 2007: Eighth Circuit Holds Chemist May Be Personally Liable for His Participation in Employer’s Violations of the Clean Water Act U.S. v. Opare-Addo, ___F.3d___ 06-2431 (8th Cir. May 22, 2007)
June 2007: District Court Finds Challenge to Property Falling within ‘Navigable Waters’ Definition Cannot Be the Basis for Dismissal for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction U.S. v. Sea Bay Development Corp., ___F.Supp.2d___ 2:06cv624 (E.D. Va. April 18, 2007)
April 2007: Virginia State Court Issues Temporary Injunction against Shenandoah Valley Sewage Treatment Facility for Discharges into Shenandoah River Paylor v. SIL Clean Water, LLC CL06-00876 (Circuit Court of the County of Rockingham Feb. 22, 2007)
March 2007: News from the West
February 2007: Back Into Florida Waters: Federal District Court Finds Lake Okeechobee Backpumping Requires Clean Water Act NPDES Permit
November 2006: Seventh Circuit to Follow Justice Kennedy’s Concurrence (Usually) when Applying Rapanos U.S. v. Gerke Excavating, Inc., ___F.3d___ 04-3941(7th Cir. Sept. 22, 2006)
November 2006: News from the West: Clean Water Act Litigation—Federal District Courts Address ‘Navigable Waters’ with Texas’ Intermittent Creeks; ‘Ongoing’ Water Pollution from Mining in Alaska; and Collateral Estoppel Principles in Mining Pollution Case in Colorado U.S.A. v. Chevron Pipeline Co., 437 F. Supp.2d 605 (N.D. Tex. 2006); Adams v. Teck Cominco Alaska, Inc., ___F.Supp.2d___ 3:04-CV-00049-JWS (D. Alaska July 28, 2006)
November 2006: Second Circuit Remands Thorny Question of Liability of State Governmental Entities in Conjunction with Eminent Domain/Clean Water Act Cleanup Litigation City of Syracuse v. Onondaga County, ___F.3d___ 04-0718-cv (2nd Cir. Sept. 21, 2006)
November 2006: Ninth Circuit Holds that Discharge of Effluent to Man-Made Pond Adjacent to Russian River Requires a Permit under the Clean Water Act Northern California River Watch v. City of Healdsburg, ___F.3d___ 457 F.3d 1023 (9th Cir. 2006)
October 2006: D.C. Circuit Rejects Coke and Coal Industry Association’s Challenges to EPA’s Revised Clean Water Act Pretreatment Standards American Coke and Coal Chemicals Institute v. U.S. EPA 452 F.3d 930 (D.C. Cir. 2006)
October 2006: Development in Bald Eagle Habitat Permanently Enjoined; Developer Fined $1.3 Million under Clean Water Act Center for Biological Diversity v. Marina Point Development Associates 434 F.Supp.2d 789 (C.D. Cal. 2006)
October 2006: Supreme Court of Vermont Remands Water Quality Discharge Case to the State Agency for Natural Resources after Finding that the Vermont Water Resources Board Did Not Have Primary Jurisdiction In Re Stormwater NPDES Petition 2004-595 (Vt. Aug. 25, 2006)
October 2006: District Court Finds Environmental Group Has Standing to Challenge Gun Club under the Clean Water Act for Alleged Discharges Simsbury-Avon Preservation Society v. Metacon Gun Club, Inc., ___F.Supp.2d___ 3:04cv803 (D. Conn. Aug. 23, 2006)
June 2006: U.S. Supreme Court Holds that a Dam Raises the Potential for Discharge; State Certification of Compliance with Clean Water Act Is Required S.D. Warren Co. v. Maine Board of Environmental Protection, ___U.S.___ 04-1527 (U.S. May 15, 2006)
June 2006: Northeast Florida Increases Residential Irrigation with Treated Sewage Ef-fluent
May 2006: First Circuit Court of Appeals Determines There Is No Entitlement to an Evidentiary Hearing when Issuing a Clean Water Act NPDES Permit Dominion Energy Brayton Point, LLC, v. Johnson, ___F.3d.___ 05-2231 (1st Cir. Mar. 30, 2006)
May 2006: NPDES Permit Applicants Not Entitled to a Formal Evidentiary Hearing by EPA under the Clean Water Act Dominion Energy Brayton Point, LLC v. Johnson, ___F.3d___ 05-2231 (1st Cir. Mar. 30, 2006)
April 2006: Army Corps’ ‘Tulloch II’ Interpretation of Dredge and Fill Activities under the Clean Water Act’s Section 404 Is Ripe for Judicial Review as Purely Legal Issue National Association of Home Builders, et al. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.3d___ 04-5222 (D.C. Cir. Feb. 3, 2006)
April 2006: Tenth Circuit Provides Further Insight into Clean Water Act’s § 404 ‘Tributary Rule’ Provided Sufficient Nexus to Tie Tributaries to Downstream Navigable Waters United States v. Hubenka, ___F.3d___ 05-8006 (10th Cir. Feb. 21, 2006)
April 2006: U.S. Supreme Court Hears Argument on the Regulation of Dams Under Clean Water Act S.D. Warren Company v. Maine Dept. of Environmental Protection, S.Ct 04-1527
April 2006: aaa aaa aaa
April 2006: aaa aaa aaa
April 2006: District Court Grants, in Part, EPA’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings as to Some Claims Related to Setting of Phosphorous Discharge Standards under the Clean Water Act Miccosukee Tribe of Indians v. United States, ___ F.Supp.2d___ 04021448 (S.D. Fl. Feb. 16, 2006)
April 2006: aaa aaa aaa
March 2006: Backpumping into Lake Okeechobee on Trial in United States District Court Friends of the Everglades, Inc., et al. v. South Florida Water Management District, et al 02-80309-CIV (S.D. Fl. in trial as of Feb. 10, 2006)
February 2006: Court Case and Regulatory Action May Impact Clean Water Act Effluent Limitation Guidelines in 2006
January 2006: News from the West In re Bay-Delta Programmatic Environmental Impact Report Coordinated Proceedings 133 Cal.App.4th 154 (3rd Dist. 2005)
January 2006: U.S. Supreme Court to Re-Examine the Permitting of Intra-Basin Water Transfers S.D. Warren Company v. Maine Department of Environmental Protection, 2005 ME 27 (ME 2005); cert. granted, U.S. Sup. Ct., Case No. 04-1527 (Oct. 11, 2005)
December 2005: Tenth Circuit Finds the Clean Water Act Criminalizes Any Act of Negligence that Leads to Pollutant Discharge United States v. Ortiz, ___F.3d___ 04-1228, (10th Cir. Nov. 1, 2005)
November 2005: California Court of Appeal Affirms Revised Discharge Permit for Dioxin in Light of Pending Total Maximum Daily Load Communities for a Better Environment v. State Water Resources Control Board, ___Cal.App.4th___ A107572, (1st Dist. Sept. 27, 2005)
October 2005: EPA Issues an Interpretation of the Clean Water Act that Exempts Water Transfers from NPDES Permitting Requirements
October 2005: Tenth Circuit Rules that Passive Leaching of Pollutants from Inactive Mine may Require Owner to Obtain Clean Water Act permit Sierra Club v. El Paso Gold Mines, Inc., ___F.3d___ 03-1105 (10th Cir. Aug. 24, 2005)
August 2005: Trends in Water Law Litigation in the Eastern United States
July 2005: North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board Files Administrative Civil Liability Complaint against Georgia-Pacific Corporation Fort Bragg Lumber Mill
July 2005: South Bay Centralized Waste Treatment Plant Violated Clean Water Act by Mingling Waste Streams and Failing to Properly Monitor Discharges to POTW In re Clean Harbors Environmental Services, Inc., Docket No. CWA-307-9-05-46 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9)
April 2005: Supreme Judicial Court of Maine Holds that the Passing of Pollutants through a Hydroelectric Dam Constitutes a “Discharge” under the Clean Water Act S.D. Warren Company v. Maine Board of Environmental Protection Cum-04-314 (Maine Feb. 15, 2005)
Dissolved Oxygen Standards
May 2008: NPDES Permits in Illinois Face Stiffer Anti-Degradation Review
Docks and Piers
December 2009: Ninth Circuit Finds Property Owners Adjoining Tidelands Liable for Trespass and Violations of the CWA and Rivers and Harbors Act for Shore Structures U.S. v. Milner, ___F.3d___ 05-35802 (9th Cir. 2009)
Dredge and Fill "Incidental Fallback
February 2009: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers Revise Clean Water Act Regulatory Definition Relating to Incidental Fallback Revisions to the Clean Water Act Regulatory Definition of ‘Discharge of Dredged Material’: Final Rule 73 Fed. Reg. 79641 (Dec. 30, 2008)
October 2006: Michigan Supreme Court Let’s Stand Court of Appeals’ Ruling that Finds No Takings Claim on Wetlands Permit Denial K & K Construction, Inc. v. Michigan Dep’t of Environmental Quality 713 N.W.2d 268 (Mich. 2006)
Dredge and Fill "Incidental Fallback"
April 2006: Incidental Fallback Dredging Regulations Are Ripe for Review Despite Requirement to Prove Volume of Redeposited Material with Project-Specific Evidence

National Wildlife Federation v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.Spp.2d___ 04-5221 (D. D.C. Feb. 3, 2006)

Dredge and Fill Materials—Sidecasting
March 2009: Sixth Circuit Determines that ‘Sidecasting’ into Adjacent Wetlands without a Permit Violates Clean Water Act U.S. v. Cundiff, ___F.3d.___ 05-5469, 05-5905, 07-5630 (6th Cir. Feb. 4, 2009)
Dredge and Fill Permits
February 2010: Fourth Circuit Rejects Maryland’s Sovereign Immunity Claim for Liquefied Natural Gas Project Involving the Clean Water Act and Discharges into Navigable Waters AES Sparrows Point LNG, LLC; Mid-Atlantic Express, LLC, v. Shari T. Wilson, Secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment, ___F.3d___ 09-1539 (4th Cir. Dec. 22, 2009)
January 2010: District Court Holds Notices of Violation and Agency Investigations are Insufficient to Trigger Clean Water Act Provisions Barring Citizen Suits Gulf Restoration Network v. Hancock County Development, LLC, ___F.Supp.2d___ 1:08cv186-LG-RHW (S.D. Miss. Nov. 16, 2009)
January 2010: Five Environmental Organizations File Suit against the U.S. Army Corps Challenging Its Notice to Proceed on the Delaware River Deepening Project Delaware Riverkeeper Network v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 3:2009cv05889, filed Nov. 19, 2009 (D. N.J.)
January 2010: District Court Rules that U.S. Army Corps Violated the Clean Water Act and NEPA in Issuing Permits to Allow Surface Mining in West Virginia Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 3:08-0979 (S.D. W.Va. Nov. 24, 2009)
December 2009: First District Underscores the Need to Evaluate Project Impacts on Wetlands, Riparian Habitats, and Other Resources under CEQA Citizens of Civic Accountability v. Town of Danville, unpublished op. A 121899 (1st Dist. 2009)
December 2009: Newport News Pulls Plug on Proposed King William Reservoir—After 22 Years, Abandons Plans to Build Reservoir
August 2009: U.S. Supreme Court Holds Army Corps’ Dredge and Fill Permit to Discharge Mining Slurry into Lake Trumps EPA Rules Prohibiting Mining Slurry Discharges
August 2009: Eighth Circuit Adopts First Circuit’s Views Regarding Application of the Rapanos Decision U.S. v. Bailey, ___F.3d___ 08-1908 (8th Cir. July 9, 2009)
August 2009: News from the West
July 2009: City of Fairbanks Seeks Supreme Court Review of Ninth Circuit’s Decision Regarding the ‘Finality’ of Clean Water Act Jurisdictional Determinations
June 2009: U.S. District Court Limits U.S. EPA Discretion to Veto a Permit under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act Alliance to Save the Mattaponi, et. al., v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, et. al., ___F.Supp.2d___ (D. D.C. March 31, 2009)
June 2009: Ninth Circuit Holds Army Corps Improperly Determined the Scope of NEPA Analysis of Environmental Impacts Related to CWA 404 Permit to Fill Desert Washes White Tanks Concerned Citizens, Inc. v. Strock, ___F.3d___ 07-15659 (9th Cir. April 29, 2009)
May 2009: New Strategies for Injecting Climate Change Analysis into Agency Decision-Making Likely a Washout
April 2009: Fourth Circuit Reverses District Court Rescission of CWA 404 Permits to Allow Filling of State Waters In Conjunction with Area Surface Coal Mining Operations Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, et al. v. Aracoma Coal Company, et al., ___F.3d___ 07-1355, 07-1479, 07-1480, 07-1964, 07-2112, (4th Cir. Feb. 13, 2009)
March 2009: Sixth Circuit Determines that ‘Sidecasting’ into Adjacent Wetlands without a Permit Violates Clean Water Act U.S. v. Cundiff, ___F.3d.___ 05-5469, 05-5905, 07-5630 (6th Cir. Feb. 4, 2009)
October 2008: Ninth Circuit Rules Approved Wetlands Jurisdictional Determination by Corps Not Final Agency Action under APA and Not Reviewable Fairbanks North Star Borough v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, et al., ___F.3d___ 07-35545 (9th Cir. Sept. 12, 2008)
July 2008: Third Circuit Holds Developer’s Filling of Wetlands Rendered Environmentalists’ Challenge to Fill Permit Prudentially Moot Sierra Club v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.3d_ __ 06-4887 (3rd Cir. May 14, 2008)
July 2008: Eleventh Circuit Vacates Clean Water Act Permits, Finds District Court Improperly Acted as a Legislative Body Sierra Club v. United Transportation Union, ___F.3d__ _ 07-13297 (11th Cir. May 9, 2008)
June 2008: District Court Confirms U.S. Army Corps’ Discretion in Issuing Clean Water Act Permit to City for Road Bypass in New Hampshire Wetlands Area Northwest Bypass Group v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.Supp.2d___ 06-CV-00258 (D. N.H. April 22, 2008)
April 2008: D.C. Circuit Holds Corps’ Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Seeking Public Input Defining ‘Waters of the United States’ Did Not Reopen Rule for Challenge P & V Enterprises v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, __ _F.3d___ 07-5060, (D.C. Cir. Feb. 19, 2008)
March 2008: U.S. Army Corps’ Rejection of 404 Permit Application for Noise Violations Upheld by U.S. District Court Huntington Barclay v. U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, ___F.Supp.2d___ 06-CV-368-SM (D. N.H. Feb. 14, 2008)
February 2008: Eleventh Circuit Affirms Clean Water Act Regional General Plan Allowing a Watershed Approach to Environmental Permitting Sierra Club v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.3d___ 06-16505 (11th Cir. Dec. 7, 2007)
February 2008: Ninth Circuit Upholds Army Corps Dredge and Fill Permit for Mining Project despite Large-Scale Wetlands Fill Resulting from Project Bering Strait Citizens for Responsible Resource Development v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.3d___ 07-35506 (9th Cir. Jan. 3, 2007)
August 2007: District Court Finds Corps’ Failure to Conduct EIS Not Fatal to Its Issuance of Wetlands Dredge and Fill Permit Friends of Magurrewock, Inc., the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.Supp.2d___ CV-07-48-BW (D. Me July 11, 2007)
July 2007: Ninth Circuit Decides that Permitting Process for Fill Material under the Clean Water Act Must Comply with Performance Standard in Sections 301 and 306 Southeast Alaska Conservation Council v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.3d___ 06-35679 (9th Cir. May 22, 2007)
May 2007: U.S. Supreme Court Denies Review of Baccarat Decision Dealing with Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Baccarat Fremont Developers, LLC v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 425 F.3d 1150 (9th Cir. 2005); cert. denied, U.S. S.Ct., Feb. 20, 2007
May 2007: Ninth Circuit Announces Intention to Hold Permitting Process for Dredged or Fill Material Must Comply with Performance Standard of the Clean Water Act Southeast Alaska Conservation Council v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.3d___ 06-35679 (9th Cir. March 16, 2007)
April 2007: District Court Rejects Tulloch II Rule—Scope of Corps’ Dredge and Fill Permitting Jurisdiction again Called into Question National Association of Home Builders v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.Supp.2d___ 01-0274 (D. D.C. Jan. 30, 2007)
February 2007: Federal District Court Denies Preliminary Injunction Barring Road Construction and Dredge and Fill in Wetlands Area, Finding No Arbitrary Decision-Making by Army Corps Northwest Bypass Group v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.Supp.2d___ 6–CV–00258-JAW (D. N.H. Jan. 5, 2007)
December 2006: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Suspends New Pilot Program for Removal-Fill Permitting in Oregon
November 2006: District Court Holds Commuter Line Cannot Be Derailed by Citizen Group’s Challenge to Corps’ Issuance of Clean Water Act Fill Permit Advocates for Transportation Alternatives v. U.S. Corps of Army Engineers, ___F.Supp.2d___ 05-1724 (D. Ma. Sept. 29, 2006)
November 2006: District Court Finds Environmental Groups Failed in Their Challenge of Corps Issued Permit to Fill in Wetlands at Meadowlands Sports Complex Sierra Club v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.Supp.2d___ 05-1724 (D. N.J. Sept. 28, 2006)
October 2006: New Court Challenge Filed over Virginia’s King William Reservoir Challenging the Corps’ Issuance of a Clean Water Act Dredge and Fill Permit Alliance to Save the Mattaponi, et al. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 06-1337, filed July 17, 2006, District of the District of Columbia
May 2006: Two Steps Forward One Step Back: Will Oregon’s State Programmatic General Permit Program Simplify the Removal-Fill Permitting Process?
April 2006: Environmental Groups Sue to Halt Dredging and Filling along the Santa Clara River Wishtoyo Foundation/Ventura Coastkeeper et al. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers CV06-0881, filed Feb. 14, 2006 (C.D. Cal.)
April 2006: Army Corps’ ‘Tulloch II’ Interpretation of Dredge and Fill Activities under the Clean Water Act’s Section 404 Is Ripe for Judicial Review as Purely Legal Issue National Association of Home Builders, et al. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.3d___ 04-5222 (D.C. Cir. Feb. 3, 2006)
April 2006: Incidental Fallback Dredging Regulations Are Ripe for Review Despite Requirement to Prove Volume of Redeposited Material with Project-Specific Evidence

National Wildlife Federation v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.Spp.2d___ 04-5221 (D. D.C. Feb. 3, 2006)

April 2006: Tenth Circuit Provides Further Insight into Clean Water Act’s § 404 ‘Tributary Rule’ Provided Sufficient Nexus to Tie Tributaries to Downstream Navigable Waters United States v. Hubenka, ___F.3d___ 05-8006 (10th Cir. Feb. 21, 2006)
April 2006: aaa aaa aaa
April 2006: aaa aaa aaa
February 2006: Scripps Research Facility Project in Florida Delayed by Environmental Issues Related to Coastal Development Florida Wildlife Federation v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.Supp.2d___ 05-CV-80339, (S.D. Fla. Sept. 30, 2005); injunction issued Nov. 10, 2005; injunction clarified Nov. 21, 2005
January 2006: Federal Circuit Court of Appeals Finds Corps’ Second Bite at Apple Not a ‘Taking’ Norman v. United States, ___F.3d___ 05-5039 (Fed. Cir. Nov. 18, 2005)
December 2005: Wetlands, Commerce and Jurisdiction: The Clean Water Act before the Supreme Court
September 2005: Corps of Engineers’ Issuance of Revised Nation Wide Permits Was ‘Final Agency Action’ Subject to Review under the Administrative Procedure Act National Ass’n of Home Builders, et al. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.3d___ 04-5009 (D.C. Cir. July 29, 2005)
September 2005: Fifth Circuit Allows Dredge and Fill Permit for Construction of Ship Terminal at Bayport Shipping Channel Off Galveston Bay City of Shoreacres v. Waterworth, ___F.3d___ 04-20527 (5th Cir. Aug. 8, 2005)
January 2005: Sixth Circuit Further Defines ‘Adjacent Wetland’ Jurisdiciton under the Clean Water Act Carabell et al. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, et al., ___F3d___ 03-1700 (6th Cir. Sept. 27, 2004)
October 2004: Ninth Circuit Finds U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Could Encompass Entirety of Proposed Development Site Save Our Sonoran, Inc. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, et al., ___F.3d___ 02-16156, 02-6263, 02-16355 (9th Cir. Aug. 26, 2004)
September 2004: District Court Enjoins U.S. Army Corps’ Use of Nationwide Permits for Mining Activities Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, et al. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.Supp.2d___ 3:03-2281 (S.D. W.Va. July 8, 2004)
June 2004: State Water Resources Control Board Proposes Statewide General Waste Discharge Requirements to Waters Deemed outside Federal Jurisdiction.
May 2004: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Northwestern Division Interprets Clean Water Act to Extend to Irrigation Canals and Ditches
Dredged Materials Discharge
February 2009: John Rapanos Agrees to Civil Penalties and to Provide Wetlands Mitigation for Alleged Clean Water Act Violations U.S. v. John A. Rapanos 94-CV-70788-DT (E.D. Mich.)
October 2008: EPA Exercises Veto Authority under the Clean Water Act: Kills Controversial ‘Yazoo Pumps Project’ in the Mississippi Delta
July 2007: Ninth Circuit Decides that Permitting Process for Fill Material under the Clean Water Act Must Comply with Performance Standard in Sections 301 and 306 Southeast Alaska Conservation Council v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.3d___ 06-35679 (9th Cir. May 22, 2007)
December 2006: First Circuit Offers Broader New Understanding of Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Following Supreme Court’s Rapanos Plurality Decision United States v. Johnson, ___F.3d___ 05-1444 (1st Cir. Oct. 31, 2006)
April 2005: Settlement of EPA Allegation Related to Filling Wetlands Costs California Farming Operation $1.15 Million United States v. Adam Bros. Farming Inc., et al. 00-cv-7409 (C.D. Cal)
June 2004: Seventh Circuit Finds Discharge of Dredged Materials from a Supply Pond into a Contiguous River to Violate the Clean Water Act. Greenfield Mills, Inc. v. Macklin, ___F.3d___ 02-1863 (7th Cir.Mar. 19, 2004).
June 2004: U.S. District Court Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging “TULLOCH II” Rule National Association of Home Builders, et al., v. U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, et al., ___F.Supp.2d___ 01-0274, Memorandum and Order issued (D. D.C. March 31, 2004).
May 2004: Seventh Circuit Finds Discharge of Dredged Materials from a Supply Pond into a Contiguous River to Violate the Clean Water Act Greenfield Mills, Inc. v. Macklin ___F.3d___, Case No. 02-1863 (7th Cir. Mar. 19, 2004).
Effluent Limitation Guidelines
May 2008: Central Valley Regional Board Proposes $216,000 Penalty against City of Turlock for Sewage Discharge Violations California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Region, Administrative Civil Liability Complaint R5-2008-0512
January 2008: News from the West Montana Judge Upholds Montana’s Water Quality Standards, Pennaco Energy, Co. v. Montana Board of Environmental Review DV 06-08 (Mont. 22d Jud. Dist., Big Horn County, 2007)
December 2007: Ninth Circuit Requires EPA to Consider Technology in Its Review of CWA Effluent Limitations Guidelines Our Children’s Earth Foundation v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 05-16214 (9th Cir. Oct. 29, 2007)
May 2007: Ninth Circuit Announces Intention to Hold Permitting Process for Dredged or Fill Material Must Comply with Performance Standard of the Clean Water Act Southeast Alaska Conservation Council v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.3d___ 06-35679 (9th Cir. March 16, 2007)
March 2006: Backpumping into Lake Okeechobee on Trial in United States District Court Friends of the Everglades, Inc., et al. v. South Florida Water Management District, et al 02-80309-CIV (S.D. Fl. in trial as of Feb. 10, 2006)
February 2006: Court Case and Regulatory Action May Impact Clean Water Act Effluent Limitation Guidelines in 2006
Endangered Species
January 2009: California Dismissed From COSCO BUSAN Suit Stemming from San Francisco Bay Oil Spill Based on Eleventh Amendment Sovereign Immunity U.S. v. M/V COSCO BUSAN, LR/IMO SHIP NO. 9231743, et al. 07-6045 SC, (N.D. Cal.)
October 2007: The Supreme Court Limits the Scope of the Endangered Species Act: National Association of Home Builders v. Defenders of Wildlife
August 2007: U.S. Supreme Court Holds Section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act Inapplicable to EPA Transfer of NPDES Permitting Authority to Arizona National Assoc. of Home Builders v. Defenders of Wildlife, ___U.S.___ 06-340, 06-549 (U.S. June 25, 2007)
January 2006: News from the West: The Struggle of State Versus Federal Control over Water Resources Defenders of Wildlife v. U.S. EPA 420 F.3d 946 (9th Cir. 2005)
March 2004: Idaho: Endangered Species Act Issues Impacting Water Supply
Ephemeral Streams
November 2006: News from the West: Clean Water Act Litigation—Federal District Courts Address ‘Navigable Waters’ with Texas’ Intermittent Creeks; ‘Ongoing’ Water Pollution from Mining in Alaska; and Collateral Estoppel Principles in Mining Pollution Case in Colorado U.S.A. v. Chevron Pipeline Co., 437 F. Supp.2d 605 (N.D. Tex. 2006); Adams v. Teck Cominco Alaska, Inc., ___F.Supp.2d___ 3:04-CV-00049-JWS (D. Alaska July 28, 2006)
Evidentiary Hearings
May 2006: First Circuit Court of Appeals Determines There Is No Entitlement to an Evidentiary Hearing when Issuing a Clean Water Act NPDES Permit Dominion Energy Brayton Point, LLC, v. Johnson, ___F.3d.___ 05-2231 (1st Cir. Mar. 30, 2006)
Federal Grants
December 2006: EPA Issues Guidelines on Grant Information to Indian Tribes to Fund Pollution Control Programs under the Clean Water Act
Federal Preemption
November 2007: District Court Dismisses Environmental Groups’ Challenge to Post-Katrina Orders Altering Solid Waste Disposal Regulations for Lack of Standing Louisiana Environmental Action Network v. McDaniel, ___F.Supp.2d ___ 06-4161, Slip Op. (E.D. La 2007)
General
January 2003: Washington State Establishes Water Acquisition Program, though Pollution Control Hearings Board Decision Prevents Private Parties from Holding Water Rights for Instream Flow Purposes
November 2002: Managing Water Shortages in a Changing West
June 2002: Is the Door Slammed Shut?: A Recent California Decision Shows How Res Judicata and Collateral Estoppel Principles May Apply to the Discovery of New Contamination
May 2002: The New Arsenic Standard: A Look Forward to the 2006 Implementation of Tighter Standards by Thierry Montoya and Robert Orozco with the California law firm of Morris Polich & Purdy, LLP
May 2002: New United States Geological Survey Study Examines the Unintentional Medication of Water Supplies
March 2002: California Supreme Court Decision and Water Agreement Affect San Gabriel Basin Cleanup Measures Hartwell Corporation et al. v. Superior Court of Ventura County ___Cal4th___, Case No. S082782 (Cal. Feb. 2, 2002)
March 2002: Final Record of Decision and Withdrawal of Citizen's Suit Marks Resolution of a 15-Year Flood Control Dispute in San Jose.
March 2002: Attorney General Sues Squaw Valley Ski Corporation Alleging Unfair Business Practices Relating to Environmental Issues
June 2001: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Finalizing Nutrient Criteria for Different Types of Water Bodies
June 2001: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Finalizing Nutrient Criteria for Different Types of Water Bodies
June 2001: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Finalizing Nutrient Criteria for Different Types of Water Bodies
June 2001: Former EPA Safe Drinking Water Act Arsenic Rule Lowering Levels Is Suspended by Bush Administration
June 2001: Former EPA Safe Drinking Water Act Arsenic Rule Lowering Levels is Suspended by Bush Administration
May 2001: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service Enter into MOU to Foster Agency Coordination under Endangered Species and Clean Water Acts
May 2001: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service Enter into MOU to Foster Agency Coordination under Endangered Species and Clean Water Acts
April 2001: Insurance Company Has No Duty to Defend Policyholder where Alleged Misconduct Occurred outside the Coverage Period Buena Vista Mines, Inc. V. Industrial Indem. Co. ___Cal.App.4th___, Case No. B 138 302 (2nd. Dist. Feb. 28, 2001)
February 2001: United States Supreme Court Narrows the Federal Government's Authority to Regulate Wetlands Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. United States ___U.S.___, No. 99-1178, 01 C.D.O.S.269 (Jan. 9, 2001)
February 2001: Federal: United States Supreme Court Narrows the Federal Government's Authority to Regulate Wetlands Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. United States Army Corps of Engineers, et al ___U.S.___, No. 99-1178, 01 C.D.O.S.269 (Jan. 9, 2001)
February 2001: Technically Deficient Notice of Intent to Sue under Clean Water Act Upheld where Notice Served Its Essential Functions Northwest Environmental Defense Center v. Blue Heron Paper Company ___F.Supp.2d___,2000 WL 1763665 (D. Or. 2000)
January 2001: Court Holds Environmental Organizations’ Allegations of Members’ Actual Use of Waterway and Impairment of Aesthetic or Recreational Interest Sufficient to Confer Standing Under CWA Citizen Suit Provisions Ecological Rights Foundation v. Pacific Lumber Co, 230 F.3d 1141 (9th Cir. Oct.30, 2000).
January 2001: Court Holds Environmental Organizations’ Allegations of Members’ Actual Use of Waterway and Impairment of Aesthetic or Recreational Interest Sufficient to Confer Standing Under CWA Citizen Suit Provisions Ecological Rights Foundation v. Pacific Lumber Co, 230 F.3d 1141 (9th Cir. Oct.30, 2000).
General Permits
January 2009: Shippers, U.S. EPA, States and Environmental Groups Remain at Odds over Ballast Water Rules, Invasive Species Efforts, and Permits
January 2008: Eleventh Circuit Upholds Unprecedented Regional General CWA Permit to Allow Suburban Development in Northwest Florida Sierra Club v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.3d___ 06-16505 (11th Cir. Dec. 7, 2007)
May 2006: Georgia DNR Issues the ‘Flint River Basin Regional Water Development and Conservation Plan’—Moratorium on Farm Water Use Permits Lifted Upper Chattahoochee River Keeper Fund, Inc., et al. v. Environmental Protection Division of Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources State Office of Administrative Hearings, filed April 16, 2006
August 2005: Seventh Circuit Holds that NRDC Lacks Standing to Challenge EPA’S General Permit Scheme for Construction Stormwater Discharge, but Has Standing to Challenge Procedures for Creating the General Permit Scheme Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Ass’n v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 03-3277, 03-3278, 03-3279, 03-3280, 03-3281 & 03-3865 (7th Cir. June 13, 2005)
'Good Faith' Defense
October 2008: News From the West
Government Agency Debarment
December 2004: Plea Agreements for Violations of the Clean Water Act and The Clean Air Act:Avoiding the “Hidden” Pitfalls of Debarment
Groundwater
October 2005: Tenth Circuit Rules that Passive Leaching of Pollutants from Inactive Mine may Require Owner to Obtain Clean Water Act permit Sierra Club v. El Paso Gold Mines, Inc., ___F.3d___ 03-1105 (10th Cir. Aug. 24, 2005)
July 2001: Fifth Circuit Rejects Application of Oil Pollution Act to Groundwater Contamination Rice V. Harken Exploration ___F.3d ___,Case No.99-11229 (5th Cir. April 25, 2001)
Hydroelectric Power
March 2009: State Court Finds N.Y. DEC Has Jurisdiction to Issue Water Quality Permit Despite Preemption for Hydroelectric Dams Operated under FERC Chasm Hydro, Inc. v. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation 2009 N.Y. Slip Op. 00481 (N.Y.App.Div. Jan. 29, 2009)
June 2008: D.C. Circuit Confirms Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Acted Reasonably under Clean Water Act/NEPA Regarding Discharge Pipe and Seawall Duncan’s Point Lot Owners Association Inc. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, ___F.3d___ 05-1421, 06-1157, 06-1325, (D.C. Cir. April 15, 2008)
April 2006: U.S. Supreme Court Hears Argument on the Regulation of Dams Under Clean Water Act S.D. Warren Company v. Maine Dept. of Environmental Protection, S.Ct 04-1527
April 2006: aaa aaa aaa
April 2005: Supreme Judicial Court of Maine Holds that the Passing of Pollutants through a Hydroelectric Dam Constitutes a “Discharge” under the Clean Water Act S.D. Warren Company v. Maine Board of Environmental Protection Cum-04-314 (Maine Feb. 15, 2005)
June 2004: Hydroelectric Project Reauthorization in Oregon—A Unique State Model for Integrating with Federal Relicensing.
April 2004: Second Circuit Rules on Regulation to Limit Environmental Impacts from Power Plants and Industrial Facilities Riverkeeper, Inc. v. Environmental Protection Agency 358 F.3d 174 (2d Cir. 2004).
February 2003: Ninth Circuit Upholds FERC Issuance of Annual License Absent State Water Quality Certification California Trout, Inc. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ___F.3d___, Case No. 01-70787 (9th Cir. Dec. 16, 2002)
Immunity
October 2005: Eighth Circuit Finds Army Corps Has Clean Water Act Immunity from Action Seeking Injunctive Relief for a Discharge of Water from a Lake into a River State of North Dakota v. U.S. Department of the Army, et al 418 F.3d 915, (8th Cir. 2005)
February 2005: First Circuit Addresses the Issue of Qualified Immunity for Unreasonable Searches Conducted by EPA Inspectors. Riverside Mills Corp. v. Pimpare, et al. ___F3d___ , Case No. 041626 (1st Cir. Dec. 22, 2004).
Impaired Waters
November 2009: Eighth Circuit Upholds U.S. EPA’s Approval of Iowa’s Clean Water Act § 303(d) List of Impaired Waters Thomas v. Jackson, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 08-2152 (8th Cir. Sep. 10, 2009)
April 2008: San Francisco Regional Water Board Adopts Mass-Based Limits for PCBs
December 2007: Ninth Circuit Requires New Mining Source to Meet Loading and Water Quality Standards of Impaired Waterbody before EPA Can Issue NPDES Permit Friends of Pinto Creek v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d ___ 05-70785 (9th Cir. Oct. 4, 2007)
December 2007: News from the West
October 2007: Center for Biological Diversity Petitions California and Eight Coastal States to Regulate Carbon Dioxide Pollution under the Clean Water Act
August 2007: Eleventh Circuit Rejects Assertion that EPA Improperly Approved Florida’s Removal of Impaired Water Bodies from Its 2002 Section 303(d) Sierra Club, Inc. v. Leavitt, ___F.3d ___ 05-13959 (11th Cir. June 8, 2007)
December 2006: First Circuit Offers Broader New Understanding of Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Following Supreme Court’s Rapanos Plurality Decision United States v. Johnson, ___F.3d___ 05-1444 (1st Cir. Oct. 31, 2006)
December 2005: State Water Resources Control Board’s Division of Water Quality Issues Recommends Revisions to CWA Section 303(D) List
August 2005: Tenth Circuit Affirms Ability of U.S. EPA to Rely on State Interpretations when Approving State Water Quality Regulations Defenders of Wildlife v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 04-2151 (10th Cir. July 6, 2005)
June 2005: California Proposes Total Maximum Daily Load for Temperature on Salmon River
November 2002: Eleventh Circuit Finds Florida’s Deptartment of Environmental Protection Failed to Follow Its Own Procedures to Amend Water Quality Standards Florida Public Interest Group Citizen Lobby, Inc. v. U.S. EPA, ___F.3d___ 03-13810 (11th Cir. Oct. 4, 2004)
Indian Tribes
October 2007: Maine May Regulate Discharges Pursuant to the Clean Water Act on Tribal Lands LandsState of Maine v. Stephen L. Johnson, Administrator, U.S. EPA, ___F.3d___ 04-1363 (1st Dist. Aug. 8, 2007)
December 2006: EPA Issues Guidelines on Grant Information to Indian Tribes to Fund Pollution Control Programs under the Clean Water Act
December 2001: FEDERAL: Seventh Circuit Deems Wisconsin Tribe a State for Water Quality Purposes Wisconsin v. Environmental Protection Agency 266 F.3d 741, No. 99-2618 (7th Cir. Sept. 21, 2001).
Injunctive Relief
February 2009: District Court Holds Government’s Failure to Produce Public Records in CWA Suit Does Not Amount to Irreparable Harm Sierra Club, Hawaii v. City and County of Honolulu, ___F.Supp.2d___ 04-00463 (D. Haw Nov. 18, 2008)
January 2006: Tenth Circuit Finds Citizen Suits under the Clean Water Act Seeking Equitable Relief Are Not Barred by Concurrent Administrative Enforcement Actions Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union and Ponca Tribe v. Continental Carbon Company, ___F.3d___ 036243 (10th Cir. Nov. 8, 2005)
Intermittent Streams
October 2007: Ninth Circuit Holds Clean Water Act Applies to Intermittent Streams U.S. v. Moses, ___F.3d___ 06-30379 (9th Cir. Aug. 3, 2007)
October 2007: News from the West
Intra-Basin Transfers
July 2009: Eleventh Circuit Upholds Unitary Waters Theory— Finds Such Water Transfers Do Not Require an NPDES Permit under the Clean Water Act Friends of the Everglades v. South Florida Water Management District, ___F.3d___ 07-13829 (11th Cir. June 4, 2009)
July 2009: Eleventh Circuit Charts a New Course on Water Transfers—What About the Water Transfer Rule?
January 2008: Adrift in the Water: Key Provisions of the Water Quality Program Remain Untethered
January 2006: U.S. Supreme Court to Re-Examine the Permitting of Intra-Basin Water Transfers S.D. Warren Company v. Maine Department of Environmental Protection, 2005 ME 27 (ME 2005); cert. granted, U.S. Sup. Ct., Case No. 04-1527 (Oct. 11, 2005)
Jurisdiction
February 2010: District Court Finds Gun Range, as Potential Source of Pollution, Has Liability Exposure under the Clean Water Act and RCRA Benjamin v. Douglas Ridge Rifle Club, ___F.Supp. 2d ___ 07-1144-HA (D. Or. Dec. 1, 2009)
October 2009: Eighth Circuit Upholds Army Corps’ Clean Water Act Jurisdiction under Justice Kennedy’s Adjacent Criteria Standard in Rapanos U.S. v. Bailey, ___F.3d___ 08-1908 (8th Cir. July 9, 2009)
August 2009: Congress Proposing Changes to the Clean Water Act: Removing ‘Navigable’ from the Definition of ‘Waters of the United States’
August 2009: The Clean Water Act 2009: Mid-Year Report
February 2009: Ninth Circuit Confirms a Cow Is Not a Point Source of Discharges Requiring Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality Certification Oregon Natural Desert Association, et al. v. U.S. Forest Service, ___F.3d___ 08-35205 (9th Cir. Dec. 11, 2008)
February 2009: U.S. EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Issue New Guidance on Clean Water Act Jurisdiction
January 2009: Clean Water Act Jurisdiction—2008 Year-End Report
December 2008: Recent Ninth Circuit Decision Invites Regulated Community to Roll the Dice—Holds Determination of CWA Jurisdiction Does Not Constitute ‘Final Agency Action’. Fairbanks N. Star Borough v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.3d___ 07-35545 (9th Cir. 2008)
November 2008: District Court Finds Spilled Heating Oil Did Not Constitute a ‘Pollutant’ under the Clean Water Act or Fall under the Pollution Exclusion of a Homeowners Insurance Policy Whitmore v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co., ___ F.Supp.2d___ 07-5162 (E.D. Pa Sept. 30, 2008)
August 2008: Internal U.S. EPA Memo Details Clean Water Act Enforcement Problems: Congress Asks Questions
August 2008: U.S. EPA Excludes Water Transfers from Clean Water Act Permit Requirements National Water Transfers Rule, 73 Fed. Reg. 33,697 (June 13, 2008) (to be codified at 40 C.F.R. pt. 122)
August 2008: District Court Allows Army Corps to Withdraw Prior Opinion of Isolated Wetlands in Favor of U.S. Asserting Clean Water Act Jurisdication Acquest Wehrle v. U.S., ___F.Supp.2d___ 06-CV-654C(SR)(W.D. NY June 20, 2008)
August 2008: In the Wake of Rapanos,the Army Corps Equivocates over Designation of Southern Arizona’s Santa Cruz River as Navigable
July 2008: The State of the Clean Water Act and Its Reach—A Midyear Report
June 2008: District Court Rejects EPA’s Definition of ‘Navigable Waters’ in its 2002 Spill Prevention Control Rule American Petroleum Institute v. Johnson, ___F.Supp.2d ___ 02-2247(PLF), 02-2254 (PLF), (D. D.C. Mar. 31, 2008)
June 2008: District Court Holds Federally Certified Wetlands Are Not ‘Areas under Federal Jurisdiction’ for Purposes of the Endangered Species Act Northern California River Watch v. Wilcox, ___F.Supp.2d___ C06-06685CRB (N.D. Cal. March 6, 2008)
April 2008: D.C. Circuit Holds Corps’ Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Seeking Public Input Defining ‘Waters of the United States’ Did Not Reopen Rule for Challenge P & V Enterprises v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, __ _F.3d___ 07-5060, (D.C. Cir. Feb. 19, 2008)
April 2008: Congressional Bills May Expand Federal Power under the Clean Water Act to Regulate Water Beyond Constitutional Limits
February 2008: Clean Water Act Citizen Suits and Preclusion Due to State Action—District Court Bars Claims on Res Judicata Grounds on Written Stipulation between State and Agency Friends of Milwaukee’s Rivers, et al, v. Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, ___F.Supp.2d___ 2:2007cv00005 (E.D. Wis. Dec. 14, 2007)
January 2008: District Court Finds It Impossible to Apply ‘Precedent’ Set by Supreme Court in Rapanos to Subsequent Clean Water Act Cases U.S. v. Robison, ___ F.Supp.2d___ 04-PT-199-S (N.D. Ala. 2007)
January 2008: Adrift in the Water: Key Provisions of the Water Quality Program Remain Untethered
December 2007: Congress Proposes to Broaden Scope of ‘Waters of the United States’ under the Clean Water Act through H.R. 2421
October 2007: Ninth Circuit Holds Water-Filled Quarry Adjacent to the Russian River Has a Significant Nexus with Waters of the U.S. Northern California River Watch v. City of Healdsburg, ___F.3d___ 04-15442 (9th Cir. Aug. 6, 2007)
October 2007: Maine May Regulate Discharges Pursuant to the Clean Water Act on Tribal Lands LandsState of Maine v. Stephen L. Johnson, Administrator, U.S. EPA, ___F.3d___ 04-1363 (1st Dist. Aug. 8, 2007)
October 2007: Congress Likely to Address Clean Water Act Jurisdiction in the Fall
October 2007: Congressional Testimony Sparks Debate over H.R. 2421—The Clean Water Restoration Act of 2007
October 2007: News from the West
August 2007: Developers Challenge New Corps, EPA Guidance for Asserting Wetlands Jurisdiction National Association of Home Builders v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, et al. 1:07-CV-00972, filed May 24, 2007, D.C. District Court
August 2007: New Mexico Court of Appeals Affirms State’s Water Quality Control Commission’s 2005 Amendment to Water Quality Standard Defining ‘Surface Waters of the State’ New Mexico Mining Association, et al. v. Water Quality Control Commission (N.M. Ct. App. May 10, 2007)
August 2007: Floating a New Boat on the Jurisdictional Waters—Army Corps of Engineers and EPA Issue Rapanos Guidance
July 2007: U.S. EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Issue New Wetlands Regulatory Guidance
July 2007: EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Announce New Joint Guidance for Establishing Clean Water Act Jurisdiction over Waters of the United State
June 2007: District Court Finds Challenge to Property Falling within ‘Navigable Waters’ Definition Cannot Be the Basis for Dismissal for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction U.S. v. Sea Bay Development Corp., ___F.Supp.2d___ 2:06cv624 (E.D. Va. April 18, 2007)
May 2007: U.S. Supreme Court Denies Review of Baccarat Decision Dealing with Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Baccarat Fremont Developers, LLC v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 425 F.3d 1150 (9th Cir. 2005); cert. denied, U.S. S.Ct., Feb. 20, 2007
April 2007: Ninth Circuit Determines Best Management Practices May Be Used Instead of Numerical Limits For Storm Water Discharges San Francisco Baykeeper v. Cargill Salt Division, ___F.3d___ 04-17554 & 05-15051 (9th Cir. March 8, 2007)
April 2007: District Court Finds Storm Water Runoff from Construction Projection Is Proper Basis for Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Patterson, et al. v. The Barden & Robenson Corporation, ___F.Supp.2d___ 04-CV-0803E (W.D. N.Y. Feb. 16, 2007)
April 2007: Enmity Flows over West Virginia Streams and Clean Water Act Protection
March 2007: District Court Finds Gun Club’s Pond No Longer a Navigable Water in Light of U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision in Rapanos Simsbury-Avon Preservation Society v. Metacon Gun Club, ___F.Supp.2d___ 3:04 CV 803 (D. Conn. Jan. 31, 2007)
August 2006: River Protector Groups Intervene in Federal Court Suit on Behalf of the Jefferson County Storm Water Management Authority Business Alliance for Responsible Development v. Storm Water Management Authority 2:06-CV-0771-BE (S.D. Alabama 2006)
April 2006: It All Depends on What the Definition of the Word ‘Tributary’ Is—Supreme Court Hears Major Environmental Cases
April 2006: aaa aaa aaa
April 2006: aaa aaa aaa
February 2006: Pennsylvania Judge Questions EPA’s Authority to Issue TMDLs Lower Salford Township Authority v. Commonwealth of PA Department of Environmental Protection 2005-100-K (Penn. EHB Oct. 25, 2005)
January 2006: Tenth Circuit Finds Citizen Suits under the Clean Water Act Seeking Equitable Relief Are Not Barred by Concurrent Administrative Enforcement Actions Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union and Ponca Tribe v. Continental Carbon Company, ___F.3d___ 036243 (10th Cir. Nov. 8, 2005)
December 2005: Wetlands, Commerce and Jurisdiction: The Clean Water Act before the Supreme Court
November 2005: Welcome to the Supreme Court: Chief Justice Roberts Will Address the Scope of the Clean Water Act in Two Wetlands Cases
July 2005: First Circuit Holds That a Final Administrative Determination by EPA Does Not Constitute a ‘Listing’ under the Clean Water Act Narragansett Electric Co. v. U.S. EPA, ___F.3d___ 04-1127 (1st Cir. May 6, 2005)
January 2005: Sixth Circuit Further Defines ‘Adjacent Wetland’ Jurisdiciton under the Clean Water Act Carabell et al. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, et al., ___F3d___ 03-1700 (6th Cir. Sept. 27, 2004)
March 2004: District Court Rules that City of Healdsburg Is Required to Obtain NPDES Permit in Conjunction for Wastewater Discharges into Pond near the Russian River Northern California River Watch v. City of Healdsburg ___F.Supp.2d.___, Case No. C 01-04686 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 23, 2004).
Laboratory Error Defense
June 2004: Third Circuit Allows Alleged Polluter to Plead Laboratory Error Defense under Clean Water Act. United States v. Allegheny Ludlum Corporation, ___F.3d___  02-4346 (3rd Cir. April 28, 2004).
Lead
February 2010: District Court Finds Gun Range, as Potential Source of Pollution, Has Liability Exposure under the Clean Water Act and RCRA Benjamin v. Douglas Ridge Rifle Club, ___F.Supp. 2d ___ 07-1144-HA (D. Or. Dec. 1, 2009)
October 2006: District Court Finds Environmental Group Has Standing to Challenge Gun Club under the Clean Water Act for Alleged Discharges Simsbury-Avon Preservation Society v. Metacon Gun Club, Inc., ___F.Supp.2d___ 3:04cv803 (D. Conn. Aug. 23, 2006)
November 2005: District Court in Maryland Requires Evidence of Continuous Violations for Liability under the CWA but Not under RCRA Potomac Riverkeeper, Inc. v. National Capital Skeet and Trap Club, Inc., ___ F.Supp.2d___ WDQ-05-549 (D. Md. Sept. 27, 2005)
Litigation
February 2005: First Circuit Addresses the Issue of Qualified Immunity for Unreasonable Searches Conducted by EPA Inspectors. Riverside Mills Corp. v. Pimpare, et al. ___F3d___ , Case No. 041626 (1st Cir. Dec. 22, 2004).
February 2001: Sixth Circuit Finds Insurer Not Responsible for Defending Insured for False Claims Act Violations which were Based on Clean Water Act Violations M/G Transport Services, Inc. v. Water Quality Insurance Syndicate ___F.3d___,No. 993889 (6th Cir. Dec. 12, 2000)
January 2001: Colorado: Supreme Court Upholds Denial of Conditional Water Rights for Large Transmountain Water Diversion Project Board of County Commissioners v. Crystal Creek Home Owners Association, et al. Supreme Court Case No. 98SA327, Slip Opinion Issued (Nov. 20, 2000)
January 2001: Environmental Organization Members’ Use of Waterway Sufficient to Confer Standing on Behalf of Members under Clean Water Act Citizen Suit Provisions Ecological Rights Foundation v. Pacific Lumber Co., 230 F.3d 1141 (9th Cir. Oct.30, 2000)
January 2001: Nevada: Federal Court Vacates Previous Decision To Excercise Jurisdiction over Enforcement Proceeding Involving Water Rights Adjudicated under Nevada’s Statutory Water Law State Engineer of the State of Nevada v. South Fork Band of the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada 114 F.Supp.2d 1046 (D. Nev. 2000) vacating decision at 66 F.Supp.2d 1163 (D. Nev. 1999)
January 2001: Environmental Organization Members Use of Waterway Sufficient to Confer Standing on Behalf of Members under Clean Water Act Citizen Suit Provisions Ecological Rights Foundation v. Pacific Lumber Co., 230 F.3d 1141 (9th Cir. Oct.30, 2000)
Logging
January 2004: District Court Rules that Timber Companies Engaging in Forest Logging Are No Exempt from Clean Water Act’s Permitting Process for Point Sources Environmental Protection Information Center v. Pacific Lumber Company et al. ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. C 01-2821 MHP (N.D. Cal. Oct, 14, 2003).
Logging Activities
May 2007: District Court Finds Clean Water Act Permits Not Needed for Discharges of Stormwater from Ditches alongside Logging Roads Northwest Environmental Defense Center v. Brown, et al.,___F.Supp.2d___ 06-1270 (D. Or. March 1, 2007)
Mercury
February 2008: EPA Approves Plan by Northeast States to Lower Mercury Levels in Fish
February 2007: State Water Resources Control Board Considers Policies Regarding Mercury Abatement and Methylmercury Objectives
November 2005: Supreme Court of Connecticut Affirms Penalties Assessed against Light Manufacturer for Violations of Water Pollution Control Act Arthur J. Rocque., Commissioner of Environmental Protection v. Light Sources, Inc., et al. 275 Conn. 420 (Conn. Sept. 13, 2005)
Methylmercury
February 2007: State Water Resources Control Board Considers Policies Regarding Mercury Abatement and Methylmercury Objectives
Mining
February 2010: District Court Rules that U.S. Army Corps Violated the Clear Water Act and NEPA in Issuing Permits to Allow Surface Mining in West Virginia Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.Supp.2d___ 3:08-0979 (S.D. W.Va. 2009)
February 2010: News from the West
January 2010: District Court Rules that U.S. Army Corps Violated the Clean Water Act and NEPA in Issuing Permits to Allow Surface Mining in West Virginia Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 3:08-0979 (S.D. W.Va. Nov. 24, 2009)
December 2007: Ninth Circuit Requires New Mining Source to Meet Loading and Water Quality Standards of Impaired Waterbody before EPA Can Issue NPDES Permit Friends of Pinto Creek v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d ___ 05-70785 (9th Cir. Oct. 4, 2007)
October 2005: Tenth Circuit Rules that Passive Leaching of Pollutants from Inactive Mine may Require Owner to Obtain Clean Water Act permit Sierra Club v. El Paso Gold Mines, Inc., ___F.3d___ 03-1105 (10th Cir. Aug. 24, 2005)
January 2005: Sixth Circuit Finds EPA Rules on Discharge of Effluent from Mines Violate Effluent Provisions of Clean Water Act Citizens’ Coal Counsel v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 02-3628 (6th Cir. Oct. 7, 2004)
November 2003: ASARCO and HECLA Mining Held Responsible for Majority of Cleanup Costs and Natural Resources Damages at Coeur D’Alene River Basin Coeur D’Alene Tribe v. ASARCO Incorporated, et al. ___F.Supp.2d___, Case Nos. CV 91-0342-N-EJL and CV96-0122-N-EJL (D. Id. Sept. 3, 2003).
June 2003: Tenth Circuit Denies Attorney Fees in Mooted Clean Water Act Case Amigos Bravos, et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency, et al. ___F.3d___, Case No. 02-2030 (10th Cir. April 2, 2003).
Mootness Doctrine
March 2009: District Court Finds CWA Citizen Suit Was Proper where State Agency Was Not Diligently Prosecuting Cleanup—However, Suit Became Moot after Consent Decree Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Inc., v. Hobet Mining, LLC, ___F.Sup.2d___ 3:08-0088 (S.D. W.V. Dec. 18, 2008)
Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems - MS4s
July 2008: Fifth Circuit Holds EPA’s Consent Decree Moots Clean Water Act Citizen Suit Environmental Conservation Organization v. City of Dallas, ___F.3d___ 07-10583, (5th Cir. May 27, 2008)
March 2008: Please Show Us the Way: Stormwater Regulation—The California Experience
October 2007: Green Infrastructure: A Storm Perfected?
March 2007: Fourth-Term San Diego County MS4 Permit Adopted by RWQCB
December 2006: California Court of Appeal Rules Los Angeles Regional Board’s MS4 Permit Is Not Subject to California Environmental Quality Act County of Los Angeles v. State Water Resources Control Bd. 143 Cal.App.4th 985 (Cal. App. 2nd Dist.2006)
March 2006: Court of Appeal Upholds Validity of Inland Empire Clean Water Act MS4 Permit City of Rancho Cucamonga v. Regional Water Quality Control Board, Santa Ana Region, ___Cal.App.4th___ E037079 (4th Dist. Jan. 26, 2006)
January 2005: Fourth District Upholds San Diego RWQCB Permit Aimed at Reducing Runoff from Municipal Storm Sewers Building Industry Association of San Diego County v. State Water Resources Control Board, ___Cal.App.4th___ D042385 (4th Dist. Dec. 7, 2004)
September 2004: OREGON: Enforcement of Water Quality Regulation and Penalties
June 2003: Fifth Circuit Rejects Tenth Amendment Challenges to Clean Water Act. City of Abilene v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ___F.3d___, Case Nos. 01-60894 and 01-60895 (5th Cir. April 2, 2003).
Municipal Wastewater Treatment
May 2008: Litigation over Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy for Nutrients and Sediments Unfolds in Pennsylvania
January 2006: NACWA And NRDC Join Forces to Provide EPA with Alternative Wastewater Blending Policy
National Coastal Condition Report
February 2009: U.S. EPA Issues Third National Coastal Condition Report—Nation’s Coastal Waters Continue to Be Rated ‘Fair’
National Estuary Program
October 2005: U.S. EPA Issues Community Based Watershed Management Handbook: Lessons from the National Estuary Program
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
February 2010: District Court Allows Citizen Suit under Clean Water Act where Permit Not Modified by Consent Decree, Denies Claims Discharged in Bankruptcy Riverkeeper, Inc. v. Mirant Lovett, LLC, ___F. Supp.2d___ 05-CV-2792(CS) (S.D. N.Y. Dec. 15, 2009)
February 2010: News from the West
February 2010: EPA Targets an Ambitiously Broad New Class of Stormwater Dischargers
February 2010: New York Appellate Division finds New York City May Not Rely on the Federal Clean Water Act to Excuse It from Compliance with State Standards In the Matter of Catskill Mountains Chapter of Trout Unlimited v. Denise M. Sheehan, Commissioner of Environmental Conservation 2010 N.Y. Slip. Opp. 00043 (N.Y. Supr. Ct., App. Div. Jan. 7, 2009)
December 2009: District Court Finds Broad Standing for Clean Water Act Citizen Suit Claims, Imposes Exacting Jurisdictional Notice Requirement Stephens v. Koch Foods, LLC, ___F.Supp.2d___ 2:07-CV-175 (E.D. Tenn. Oct. 13, 2009)
December 2009: City of Akron Settles Lawsuit—Agrees to Sewer Overflow Reduction and Major Treatment Upgrades to Help the Cuyahoga River U.S. v. City of Akron 5:09-cv-00272 (E.D. Ohio)
November 2009: Central Valley Regional Water Board Rescinds Former Policy Regarding Salinity in Wastewater Discharges—More Stringent Rule Likely
November 2009: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Sues Pennsylvania Municipal Sewer Authority over Combined Sewer Overflows
October 2009: Ninth Circuit Finds Judicially Enforceable Settlement Agreement Entitled Party to Attorney’s Fees as the ‘Prevailing Party’ under Clean Water Act Section 1365(d) Saint John’s Organic Farm v. Gem County Mosquito Abatement District, ___F.3d__ 07-35797 (9th Cir. July 16, 2009)
October 2009: State Water Resources Control Board Adopts New NPDES General Construction Permit and Waste Discharge Requirements for Stormwater Discharges
August 2009: U.S. EPA Actively Injecting Itself into High Profile Idaho Water Matters
July 2009: District Court Stays Challenge to EPA Regulation Excluding Water Transfers from CWA Permit Requirements Pending Decisions in Other Courts Catskill Mountains Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Inc. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F. Supp.2d___ 08-5606, 08-8430 (S.D. N.Y. April 29, 2009)
July 2009: California State Water Resources Control Board Issues Draft Construction General Permit Regulating Storm Water Discharges
July 2009: State Water Resources Control Board Issues Proposed Revisions to the Water Quality Enforcement Policy
July 2009: Regional Water Board Incorporates Multi-Party Compromise into Sweeping New Storm Water Permit for Ventura County
July 2009: Eleventh Circuit Upholds Unitary Waters Theory— Finds Such Water Transfers Do Not Require an NPDES Permit under the Clean Water Act Friends of the Everglades v. South Florida Water Management District, ___F.3d___ 07-13829 (11th Cir. June 4, 2009)
July 2009: Pennsylvania Court Allows Chesapeake Bay Challenge to Proceed
June 2009: Pennsylvania DEP’s Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy Rejected by the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania Borough of Bedford v. Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection 160 M.D. 2008 (Penn. Com.Ct. April 14, 2009)
March 2009: District Court Finds CWA Citizen Suit Was Proper where State Agency Was Not Diligently Prosecuting Cleanup—However, Suit Became Moot after Consent Decree Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Inc., v. Hobet Mining, LLC, ___F.Sup.2d___ 3:08-0088 (S.D. W.V. Dec. 18, 2008)
March 2009: Sixth Circuit in Consolidated Circuit Decision, Overturns EPA Rule Allowing Pesticide Application without a Clean Water Act NPDES Permit The National Cotton Council of America v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 06-4630 (6th Cir. Jan. 7, 2009)
March 2009: Central Valley Regional Board Proposes to Fine Small Mutual Water Company $3.9 Million in Mandatory Minimum Penalties
March 2009: The Sixth Circuit Carries the Load for the Other Circuits—Holds that Clean Water NPDES Permits Are Required for Aquatic Pesticide Application
February 2009: Sixth Circuit Holds U.S. EPA Must Expand Regulation of Pesticides Discharges under the Clean Water Act National Cotton Council of America, et al v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 06-4630 et al. (6th Cir. Jan. 7, 2009)
January 2009: Eleventh Circuit Finds CWA Citizen Suit Not Barred when Notice of Intent to Sue Is Given Prior to Commencement of Administrative Action Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Inc. v. Cherokee Mining, LLC, ___F.3d.___ 09-10810 (11th Cir. Nov. 13, 2008)
August 2008: U.S. EPA Reissues Construction General Permit as an Interim Step in Anticipation of New Effluent Standards
August 2008: U.S. EPA Excludes Water Transfers from Clean Water Act Permit Requirements National Water Transfers Rule, 73 Fed. Reg. 33,697 (June 13, 2008) (to be codified at 40 C.F.R. pt. 122)
August 2008: Ninth Circuit Rejects EPA’s Interpretation of Contamination under NPDES of Clean Water Act Natural Resources Defense Counsel v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 06-73217 (9th Cir. May 23, 2008)
June 2008: Fourth Circuit finds Maryland’s State Prosecution of NPDES Violation Bars Companion Clean Water Act Citizen Suit The Piney Run Preservation Association v. County Commissioners of Carroll County, Maryland, ___F.3d___ 07-1348 (4th Cir. April 23, 2008)
April 2008: Lawsuit Filed Alleging End-Run of Clean Water Act NPDES Requirements for Central Valley Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations San Francisco Baykeeper, et al. v. Regional Water Quality Control Bard, Central Valley Region 34-2008-00003603-CU-WM-GDS, Sacramento County Superior Court, filed Feb. 15,2008
April 2008: State Water Board to Consider Adoption of Proposed Statewide Policy for Compliance Schedules in National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
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February 2008: District Court Seeks to Deter Clean Water Act Violations by Sentencing Violator to Five Years In Prison U.S. v. Hagerman, ___F.Supp.2d___ IP 06-139-CR-1 H/F, IP-06-139-CR-2 H/F (S.D. Ind. Nov. 28, 2007)
February 2008: Sixth District Court Upholds State Water Resources Control Board’s Issuance of NPDES Permit for Cooling Water Intake Structure Voices of the Wetlands v. California State Water Resources Control Board, 157 Cal.App.4th 1268 (6th Dist. 2007)
January 2008: District Court Provides Additional Guidance for Calculating Clean Water Act Penalties Sierra Club, et al. v. City and County of Honolulu, ___F.Supp.2d___ 04-00463 (D. Haw. Oct. 30, 2007)
January 2008: District Court Holds Clean Water Act Citizen Suit Fails in Challenge to Pennsylvania NPDES Program Delaware County Safe Drinking Water Coalition, Inc. v. McGinty, ___F.Supp.2d___ 07-1782 (E.D. Pa. Nov. 27, 2007)
January 2008: Adrift in the Water: Key Provisions of the Water Quality Program Remain Untethered
December 2007: Ninth Circuit Requires EPA to Consider Technology in Its Review of CWA Effluent Limitations Guidelines Our Children’s Earth Foundation v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 05-16214 (9th Cir. Oct. 29, 2007)
December 2007: Ninth Circuit Requires New Mining Source to Meet Loading and Water Quality Standards of Impaired Waterbody before EPA Can Issue NPDES Permit Friends of Pinto Creek v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d ___ 05-70785 (9th Cir. Oct. 4, 2007)
December 2007: News from the West
November 2007: District Court Declines to Stay Private Litigation in Favor of ‘Comprehensive’ Negotiations between U.S. EPA, Hawaii State Agency and Municipal Defendant Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter v. City and County of Honolulu, ___F.Supp.2d___ 04-00463 (D. Hawaii Sept. 11, 2007)
October 2007: The Supreme Court Limits the Scope of the Endangered Species Act: National Association of Home Builders v. Defenders of Wildlife
October 2007: News from the West
August 2007: U.S. Supreme Court Holds Section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act Inapplicable to EPA Transfer of NPDES Permitting Authority to Arizona National Assoc. of Home Builders v. Defenders of Wildlife, ___U.S.___ 06-340, 06-549 (U.S. June 25, 2007)
July 2007: Second District Rules that Regional Board Orders Are Not Exempt from State Constitutional Requirements for Reimbursement of Mandated Costs County of Los Angeles v. Commission on State Mandates, et al. 150 Cal.App.4th 898 (2nd Dist. 2007)
June 2007: South Delta Salinity Standards Prompt Financial Contributions for the Development of the Central Valley Salinity Management Plan
June 2007: District Court Clarifies Appropriate Method for Calculating Violations under the Clean Water Act Sierra Club v. City and County of Honolulu, ___F.Supp.2d___ 04-00463 (D. Haw. April 16, 2007)
May 2007: District Court Finds Clean Water Act Permits Not Needed for Discharges of Stormwater from Ditches alongside Logging Roads Northwest Environmental Defense Center v. Brown, et al.,___F.Supp.2d___ 06-1270 (D. Or. March 1, 2007)
April 2007: State Water Resources Control Board Issues Draft Proposed Revisions to General NPDES Permit for Storm Water Discharge from Construction Sites
April 2007: EPA’s New Aquatic Pesticide Rule Leaves Wake of Uncertainty
April 2007: District Court Finds Storm Water Runoff from Construction Projection Is Proper Basis for Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Patterson, et al. v. The Barden & Robenson Corporation, ___F.Supp.2d___ 04-CV-0803E (W.D. N.Y. Feb. 16, 2007)
April 2007: Virginia State Court Issues Temporary Injunction against Shenandoah Valley Sewage Treatment Facility for Discharges into Shenandoah River Paylor v. SIL Clean Water, LLC CL06-00876 (Circuit Court of the County of Rockingham Feb. 22, 2007)
March 2007: Diminishing Deference: How and Why the Courts Are Increasingly Declining to Defer to EPA NPDES Decisions and Policies
February 2007: U.S. EPA Proposes NPDES Permit Fee Incentive Rule for Clean Water Act Section 106 Grants
February 2007: State Water Resources Control Board Considers Policies Regarding Mercury Abatement and Methylmercury Objectives
February 2007: District Court Holds Cleanup and Abatement Order Not Subject to Clean Water Act Citizen Suit Humboldt Baykeeper v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., ___F.Supp.2___ C 06-02560 JSW (N.D. Cal. Nov. 27, 2006)
February 2007: Back Into Florida Waters: Federal District Court Finds Lake Okeechobee Backpumping Requires Clean Water Act NPDES Permit
December 2006: California Court of Appeal Rules Los Angeles Regional Board’s MS4 Permit Is Not Subject to California Environmental Quality Act County of Los Angeles v. State Water Resources Control Bd. 143 Cal.App.4th 985 (Cal. App. 2nd Dist.2006)
November 2006: EPA Proposes Revisions to Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) Rule
November 2006: EPA Loses its NPDES Exemption for Discharges Incident to Normal Operation of a Vessel Northwest Environmental Advocates, et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, et al., ___F.Supp.2d___ C 03-05760 IS (N.D. Cal. Sept. 18, 2006)
November 2006: District Court Finds Environmental Groups Failed in Their Challenge of Corps Issued Permit to Fill in Wetlands at Meadowlands Sports Complex Sierra Club v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.Supp.2d___ 05-1724 (D. N.J. Sept. 28, 2006)
August 2006: Second Circuit Ruling that New York City Must Obtain an NPDES Permit when Transferring Water between Distinct Waterbodies Appears in Conflict with EPA’s Proposed Water Transfer Rule Catskill Mountains Chapter of Trout Unlimited v. City of New York, ___F.3d___ 03-7203(L) and 03-7253(XAP) (2nd Cir. June 13, 2006)
August 2006: River Protector Groups Intervene in Federal Court Suit on Behalf of the Jefferson County Storm Water Management Authority Business Alliance for Responsible Development v. Storm Water Management Authority 2:06-CV-0771-BE (S.D. Alabama 2006)
August 2006: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
June 2006: Northeast Florida Increases Residential Irrigation with Treated Sewage Ef-fluent
May 2006: The Dirt on Clean Water Act Permit Violations: Recent U.S. PIRG Study Highlights Deficiencies in Current Water Protection Policy and Enforcement
May 2006: First Circuit Court of Appeals Determines There Is No Entitlement to an Evidentiary Hearing when Issuing a Clean Water Act NPDES Permit Dominion Energy Brayton Point, LLC, v. Johnson, ___F.3d.___ 05-2231 (1st Cir. Mar. 30, 2006)
April 2006: Fourth District Rules in Favor of RWQCB in Challenge to NPDES Permit for Municipal Storm Water City of Rancho Cucamonga v. Regional Water Quality Control Board, ____ Cal.App.4th. ____ D043877, (4th Dist. Jan. 26, 2006)
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March 2006: Court of Appeal Upholds Validity of Inland Empire Clean Water Act MS4 Permit City of Rancho Cucamonga v. Regional Water Quality Control Board, Santa Ana Region, ___Cal.App.4th___ E037079 (4th Dist. Jan. 26, 2006)
March 2006: Sixth Circuit Finds U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Reasonable in Relying on Ohio EPA’s Clean Water Act Section 401 Waiver City of Olmsted Falls, Ohio,at al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 02-02210 (6th Cir. Jan. 24, 2006)
March 2006: Water Rights and Wastewater Discharge Litigation in the Eastern United States
February 2006: EPA’s Pretreatment Streamlining Rule Authorizes Greater Local Control over Federal Pretreatment Program 70 Fed. Reg. 60134 (Oct. 14, 2005)
October 2005: EPA Issues an Interpretation of the Clean Water Act that Exempts Water Transfers from NPDES Permitting Requirements
October 2005: Tenth Circuit Rules that Passive Leaching of Pollutants from Inactive Mine may Require Owner to Obtain Clean Water Act permit Sierra Club v. El Paso Gold Mines, Inc., ___F.3d___ 03-1105 (10th Cir. Aug. 24, 2005)
September 2005: Ninth Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment for Defendants in Case Alleging Over-Abundance of Phosphorous in Lake Steilacoom Lake Improvement Club Inc. v. State of Washington, ___F.3d.___ 03-35888 (9th Cir. July 6, 2005)
August 2005: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Can Approve State Submitted TMDL after Already Adopting Federal TMDL City of Arcadia, et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 03-16309 (9th Cir. June 15, 2005)
August 2005: Seventh Circuit Holds that NRDC Lacks Standing to Challenge EPA’S General Permit Scheme for Construction Stormwater Discharge, but Has Standing to Challenge Procedures for Creating the General Permit Scheme Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Ass’n v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 03-3277, 03-3278, 03-3279, 03-3280, 03-3281 & 03-3865 (7th Cir. June 13, 2005)
August 2005: Trends in Water Law Litigation in the Eastern United States
August 2005: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
July 2005: North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board Files Administrative Civil Liability Complaint against Georgia-Pacific Corporation Fort Bragg Lumber Mill
July 2005: Court Rules Commission Must Consider whether State Is Required to Pay for Stormwater NPDES Compliance Costs County of Los Angeles v. State of California BS089769 (Los Angeles Cty. Superior Ct. 2005)
March 2005: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Seeks Review and Comment on Its Draft National “WET” Implementation Guidance under the NPDES Program
March 2005: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
February 2005: District Court in Georgia Prevents Intervention by Taxpayer Group in Implementation of Clean Water Act Consent Decree. Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper Fund, Inc. v. The City of Atlanta, F.Supp.2d___, Case No 1:95-CV-2550-TWT, No 1:98-CV-1956-TWT (N.D. Ga. Dec. 7, 2004).
February 2005: District Court in New York Holds Citzen’s Group Cannot Sue United States to Prevent Mosquito Spraying. Altman v. United States, States, ___F.Supp.2d___. Case No. 98-CV-237E(F), (W.D.N.Y. Dec. 30, 2004).
January 2005: Environmental Groups Claim PG&E Is Required to Obtain NPDES Permit for Diverting Water from the Eel River to the Russian River in California
December 2004: First District Affirms Mandatory Minimum Penalty of $243,000 for Violations of Wastewater Discharge Permit by the City of Brentwood City of Brentwood v. Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, ___Cal.App.4th___ A102819 (1st Dist. Oct. 27, 2004)
December 2004: Sixth Circuit Finds Groups Have Standing in Clean Water Act Litigation: American Canoe Association Paddles Local Sewer Commission American Canoe Association v City of Louisa Water & Sewer Commission, ___F.3d___ 02-6018, 2004 WL 243536 (6th Cir. Nov. 1, 2004)
November 2002: Sixth Circuit Remands EPA Regulation as an Unreasonable Interpretation of the Clean Water Act Citizens Coal Council and Kentucky Resources Council, Inc., v. U.S. EPA, ___F.3d___ 02-3628 (6th Cir. Oct. 7, 2004)
November 2004: Eleventh Circuit Holds that Federal Court Jurisdiction Exists for Case Alleging Violation of State-Issued Clean Water Act Permit Parker v. Scrap Metal Processors, Inc., ___F.3d___ 03-14516 (11th Cir. Sept. 28, 2004)
October 2004: City of Los Angeles Settles a Six-Year Sewage Spill Suit Los Angeles Region v. City of Los Angeles; Santa Monica Baykeeper, et al. v. City of Los Angeles CV 98-09039 RSWL and CV 01-00191 RSWL
September 2004: NEVADA: Enforcement of Water Quality Regulation and Penalties
September 2004: WASHINGTON: Enforcement of Water Quality Regulation and Penalties
September 2004: TEXAS: Enforcement of Water Quality Regulation and Penalties
September 2004: NEW MEXICO: Enforcement of Water Quality Regulation and Penalties
September 2004: OREGON: Enforcement of Water Quality Regulation and Penalties
September 2004: ARIZONA: Enforcement of Water Quality Regulation and Penalties
August 2004: Angel Island State Park Replaces Discharge of Secondary Treated Effluent to Central San Francisco Bay with Land Disposal to Onsite Subsurface Land Disposal System
July 2004: Sixth Circuit Dismisses Clean Water Act Citizen Suit Based on City’s Improvement to Wastewater Treatment Systems. Ailor v. City of Maynardville, ___F.3d___ 01-6562 (6th Cir. May 17, 2004).
May 2004: U.S. Supreme Court Ducks Direct Decision on NPDES Requirements for Inter-Basin Water Transfers South Florida Water Mgmt. Dist. v. Miccosukee Tribe of Indians ___U.S.___, Case No. 02-626 (U.S. March 23, 2004).
February 2004: Eighth Circuit Reverses District Court’s Award of Attorneys’ Fees to Plaintiff in Clean Water Act Case Sierra Club v. City of Little Rock, ___F.3d___, Case No. 03-1160, (8th Cir. Dec. 12, 2003).
February 2004: The Nation’s Water Wars Head East
January 2004: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Launches Online System for Construction Site Stormwater Runoff Compliance
January 2004: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Issues Draft Policy on Municipal Wastewater Treatment Requirements during Wet Weather Conditions 68 Fed.Reg. 63042 (Nov. 7, 2003).
December 2003: Ninth Circuit Requires Agency Review and Public Participation in the Issuance of Notices of Intent Pursuant to the CWA’s Phase II Stormwater Requirements Environmental Defense Center, Inc. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency , ___F.3d___, Case Nos. 00-70014, 00-70734 and 00-70822 (9th Cir. Sept. 15, 2003)
December 2003: Sixth Circuit Reverses District Court’s Downward Adjustments to Sentence for Clean Water Act Violations United States v. Kuhn 345 F.3d 431 (6th Cir. 2003).
December 2003: Ninth Circuit Rules that U.S. Environmental Protection Agency General Permit Option Violates Clean Water Act Environmental Defense Center, Inc. v. U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agency ___F.3d___, Case Nos. 00- 70014, 00-70734 and 00-70822 (9th Cir. Sept. 15, 2003).
August 2003: Sixth Circuit Affirms Use of All Writs Act to Compel Non-Party to Cooperate with Consent Decree United States of America v. City of Detroit 329 F.3d 515 (6th Cir. 2003).
July 2003: Non-Native Fish Deemed “Pollutant”; Maine District Court Fines Salmon Farming Operations under the Clean Water Act USPIRG v. Atlantic Salmon of Maine, L.L.C./ USPIRG v. Stolt Sea Farm, Inc ___F.Supp.2d___, Case Nos. 00-151-B-C, 00-149-B-C (D. Me. May 28, 2003).
June 2003: Fifth Circuit Rejects Tenth Amendment Challenges to Clean Water Act. City of Abilene v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ___F.3d___, Case Nos. 01-60894 and 01-60895 (5th Cir. April 2, 2003).
April 2003: Water Agencies Take Special Interest in Two East Coast Clean Water Act Cases Requiring NPDES Permits for Large Water Purveyors Catskill Mountains Chapter of Trout Unlimited v. City of New York, 273 F.3d 481 (2d Cir. 2001); Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida v. South Florida Water Management District 280 F.3d 1364 (11th Cir. 2002).
March 2003: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Finalizes Its Water Quality Trading Policy
February 2003: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Proposes Withdrawal of the Final July 2002 TMDL Rule
February 2003: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Transfers National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Program to State of Arizona
January 2003: Ninth Circuit Orders U.S. Forest Service to Obtain NPDES Permit and Perform Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement League of Wilderness Defenders/Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project v. Forsgren 309 F.3d 1181 (9th Cir. Nov. 4, 2002).
January 2003: State Decisions: California Court of Appeal Precludes Use of "Minimum Level" Standards Application to NPDES Permit Compliance under the Clean Water Act WaterKeepers Northern California, et al. v. California State Water Resources Contro Board ___Cal.App.4th___, Case No. AO94917 (1st Dist. Oct. 24, 2002).
January 2003: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Addresses Agricultural Regulations under the Clean Water Act
January 2003: Chino Area Dairies Settle Lawsuits; Agree to Implement Water and Air Controls
December 2002: Legislation Requires Orange County Sanitation District Ocean Discharges to Meet Secondary Treatment Standards within Ten Years
December 2002: District Court: District Court in Indiana Reprimands State Agency's Sloppy Enforcement of CAFO Water Permitting Procedures Save the Valley, Inc. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. IP 99-0058-C-B/ G (S.D. Ind. Sept. 17, 2002).
December 2002: Ninth Circuit Finds Liability under the Clean Water Act May Survive the Sale San Francisco Bay Keeper, Inc. v. Tosco Corporation, Inc ___F.3d___, Case No. 01-1599 D.C. No. CV-000256-SI (9th Cir, Nov. 11, 2002)
November 2002: The Ever-Expanding NPDES Permit: Proposed "Capacity, Management, Operation and Maintenance" Regulations for Municipal Sewer Systems
November 2002: Third Circuit Upholds EPA's Pretreatment Program Requirements for North Borough Publicly Owned Treatment Works Welch Foods, Inc. v. Borough of North East ___F.3d___, Case No. 01-3456 (3rd Cir. Sept. 13, 2002)
November 2002: Ninth Circuit Affirms Clean Water Act Citizen Suit against Dairy Operation Community Association for Restoration of the Environment v. Henry Bosma Dairy ___F.3d___, Case No. 01-35261(9th Cir. Sept. 16, 2002).
November 2002: State Water Resources Control Board Issues Order on City of Vacaville's Petition for Review of Waste Discharge Requirements.
October 2002: Eleventh Circuit Upholds Flood Irrigation Practice under Clean Water Act Agricultural Exemption Fishermen against the Destruction of the Environment, Inc. v. Closter Farms, Inc., ___F.3d___, Case No. 01-11932 (11th Cir. Aug. 7, 2002).
August 2002: "Nonpoint Source" Pollution Regulation in International Streams: The United States-Mexico Border
July 2002: Federal Actions: Ninth Curcuit Denies Citizen Suit Contesting Renewal of NPDES Permit ONRC Action v. Columbia Plywood Inc. 286 F.3d 1137 (9th Cir. 2002).
July 2002: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Proposes Water Quality Trading Program
July 2002: TMDL Regulations Apply to All National Waters: Even if Only Affected by Nonpoint Source Pollution Pronsolino, et al. v. Nastri, et al ___F.3d___, Case No. 00-16026, No. 0016027 (9th Cir. May 31, 2002).
June 2002: Colorado District Court Finds No Reason to Stay Clean Water Act Citizen Suit, Despite Existence of Pending State Agency Proceeding on Discharge Sierra Club, et al. v. El Paso Gold Mines, Inc. ___F.Supp.2d___, Civil Action No. 01-PC-2163 (D. Colo. April 12, 2002).
June 2002: Ninth Circuit Denies Citizen Suit Contesting Renewal of NPDES Permit ONRC Action v. Columbia Plywood Inc. 286 F.3d 1137 (9th Cir. 2002).
March 2002: San Diego Stormwater Permit Challenged in Superior Court. Building Industry Association of San Diego et al. v. State Water Resources Control Board, et al. Case No. 780263 (San Diego Superior Court)
March 2002: COLORADO: Clean Water Act Issues Impacting Water Supply
March 2002: TEXAS: Clean Water Act Issues Impacting Water Supply
March 2002: CALIFORNIA: Clean Water Act Issues Impacting Water Supply
March 2002: OREGON: Clean Water Act Issues Impacting Water Supply
March 2002: WASHINGTON: Clean Water Act Issues Impacting Water Supply
March 2002: UTAH: Clean Water Act Issues Impacting Water Supply
March 2002: ARIZONA: Clean Water Act Issues Impacting Water Supply
March 2002: IDAHO: Clean Water Act Issues Impacting Water Supply
March 2002: NEW MEXICO: Clean Water Act Issues Impacting Water Supply
January 2002: Clean Water Act Update: An Old Dog With New Tricks by Paeter E. Garcia, Esq. with the Los Angeles law firm of Weston, Benshoof, Rochefort, Rubalcava & MacCuish, LLP
January 2002: Status of the Environmental Protection Agenciy's Development of New TMDL Rule
December 2001: Court of Appeals: Transport of Water through State Distribution System May Require NPDES Permit under the Clean Water Act Catskill Mountains Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Inc., et al. v. City of New York, et al., ___F.3d___, Docket No. 00-9447 (2nd Cir. Oct. 23, 2001).
December 2001: Ninth Circuit Finds "Shall" Means "May" - EPA Decisions Regarding Enforcement Action under the Clean Water Act Are Discretionary Decisions Not Subject to Judicial Review Sierra Club, et al. v. Whitman, et al. ___F.3d___, Case No. 00-16895 (9th Cir. Oct. 2, 2001).
November 2001: Tenth Circuit Finds States Are Not Required to Adopt Regulatory Systems for Nonpoint Source Pollution at the Antidegradation Stage under the Clean Water Act American Wildlands, et al. v. Browner, et al. 260 F.3d 1192 (10th Cir. 2001).
November 2001: Captured Urban Runoff, Drained Groundwater, and Salvaged, Waste and Return Flows: Whose Water Is It?
November 2001: FEDERAL/ARIZONA: Ninth Circuit Finds "Shall" Means "May" - EPA Decisions Regarding Enforcement Action under the Clean Water Act Are Discretionary Decisions Not Subject to Judicial Review. Sierra Club, et al. v. Whitman, et al. ___F.3d___, Case No. 00-16895 (9th Cir. Oct. 2, 2001).
July 2001: Organizations Appeal San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board's Adoption of Waste Discharge Requirements for Discharges of Urban Runoff
July 2001: State Water Resources Control Board Adopts Modifications to General Permit for Storm Water Discharges Associated with Construction Activity
July 2001: State Water Resources Control Board Adopts Modifications to General Permit for Storm Water Discharges Associated with Construction Activity
January 2001: Oregon: Court of Appeals Reverses Sewage Sludge Water Quality Violation Environmental Quality Com'n v. City of Coos Bay 171 Or.App 106,___P.2d ___,2000 WL 1728456 - WQMW-WR-96-277; CA A107070 (Or. App. Nov. 22, 2000)
January 2001: Court Holds Environmental Organizations’ Allegations of Members’ Actual Use of Waterway and Impairment of Aesthetic or Recreational Interest Sufficient to Confer Standing Under CWA Citizen Suit Provisions Ecological Rights Foundation v. Pacific Lumber Co, 230 F.3d 1141 (9th Cir. Oct.30, 2000).
January 2001: Environmental Organization Members’ Use of Waterway Sufficient to Confer Standing on Behalf of Members under Clean Water Act Citizen Suit Provisions Ecological Rights Foundation v. Pacific Lumber Co., 230 F.3d 1141 (9th Cir. Oct.30, 2000)
January 2001: Environmental Organization Members Use of Waterway Sufficient to Confer Standing on Behalf of Members under Clean Water Act Citizen Suit Provisions Ecological Rights Foundation v. Pacific Lumber Co., 230 F.3d 1141 (9th Cir. Oct.30, 2000)
January 2001: Court Holds Environmental Organizations’ Allegations of Members’ Actual Use of Waterway and Impairment of Aesthetic or Recreational Interest Sufficient to Confer Standing Under CWA Citizen Suit Provisions Ecological Rights Foundation v. Pacific Lumber Co, 230 F.3d 1141 (9th Cir. Oct.30, 2000).
National Whole Effluent Toxicity Implementation Guidance
March 2005: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Seeks Review and Comment on Its Draft National “WET” Implementation Guidance under the NPDES Program
Nationwide Permits
January 2008: District Court Rejects Standing for NRDC Alleging an ‘Interest in the Protection of Water Bodies’ under the Clean Water Act National Association of Home Builders v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.Supp.2d___ 07-0972 (D. D.C. Nov. 6, 2007)
May 2007: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Issues 49 Nationwide Permits
October 2005: EPA Issues an Interpretation of the Clean Water Act that Exempts Water Transfers from NPDES Permitting Requirements
September 2005: Corps of Engineers’ Issuance of Revised Nation Wide Permits Was ‘Final Agency Action’ Subject to Review under the Administrative Procedure Act National Ass’n of Home Builders, et al. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.3d___ 04-5009 (D.C. Cir. July 29, 2005)
September 2004: District Court Enjoins U.S. Army Corps’ Use of Nationwide Permits for Mining Activities Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, et al. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.Supp.2d___ 3:03-2281 (S.D. W.Va. July 8, 2004)
March 2002: New, Relaxed Nationwide Permits Become Effective March 18, 2002
Navigable Waters
August 2009: Congress Proposing Changes to the Clean Water Act: Removing ‘Navigable’ from the Definition of ‘Waters of the United States’
July 2008: District Court Rejects EPA’s Definition of ‘Navigable Waters’ in Its 2002 Spill Prevention Control Rule American Petroleum Institute v. Johnson, ___F.Supp.2d_ __ 02-2247(PLF), 02-2254 (PLF), (D. D.C. Mar. 31, 2008)
March 2007: District Court Finds Gun Club’s Pond No Longer a Navigable Water in Light of U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision in Rapanos Simsbury-Avon Preservation Society v. Metacon Gun Club, ___F.Supp.2d___ 3:04 CV 803 (D. Conn. Jan. 31, 2007)
'Navigable Waters'
August 2006: U.S. Supreme Court Decides Significant Wetlands Cases with Fractured Opinion Rapanos v. United States; Carrabel v. U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, ___U.S.___ 126 S.Ct. 2208 (U.S. June 19, 2006)
August 2006: Supreme Court Fails to Fully Define the Scope of the Corps’ Jurisdiction to Regulate ‘Waters of The United States’—Justice Kennedy Issues the Controlling Opinion in Rapanos v. United States; Carabell v. United State
Negligence
January 2006: News from the West In re Bay-Delta Programmatic Environmental Impact Report Coordinated Proceedings 133 Cal.App.4th 154 (3rd Dist. 2005)
December 2005: Tenth Circuit Finds the Clean Water Act Criminalizes Any Act of Negligence that Leads to Pollutant Discharge United States v. Ortiz, ___F.3d___ 04-1228, (10th Cir. Nov. 1, 2005)
Nickel
November 2003: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Partially Approves and Disapproves California’s 2002 Clean Water Act Section 303(d) List
Nitrogen
January 2003: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Addresses Agricultural Regulations under the Clean Water Act
Noise
March 2008: U.S. Army Corps’ Rejection of 404 Permit Application for Noise Violations Upheld by U.S. District Court Huntington Barclay v. U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, ___F.Supp.2d___ 06-CV-368-SM (D. N.H. Feb. 14, 2008)
Nonpoint Source Pollution
February 2009: Ninth Circuit Confirms a Cow Is Not a Point Source of Discharges Requiring Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality Certification Oregon Natural Desert Association, et al. v. U.S. Forest Service, ___F.3d___ 08-35205 (9th Cir. Dec. 11, 2008)
February 2009: News from the West
January 2006: Ocean Law Initiatives Will Affect Some Traditional Water Quality Issues and Wetlands Development Projects, and Present a New Frontier of Water Use Opportunities
November 2005: U.S. EPA Orders Five Southern California Dairies to Comply with Clean Water Act in the Continuing Effort to Control Discharges from Nonpoint Source Operations
August 2004: State Water Resources Control Board Passes Resolution 2004-0035 to Implement the Consolidated Watershed Protection, Watershed Management, Drinking Water Quality, and Nonpoint Source Pollution Control Grants.
August/September 2003: U.S. Supreme Court Denies Certiorari in Pronsolino—Section 303 of Clean Water Act Applies to Nonpoint Source Impaired Waters in Ninth Circuit Pronsolino, et al. v. Nastri, et al. ___F.3d___, Case Nos. 00-16026, 00- 16027 (9th Cir. May 31, 2002) cert. denied U.S. S.Ct. 123 S.Ct. 2573 (June 16 2003).
August 2002: "Nonpoint Source" Pollution Regulation in International Streams: The United States-Mexico Border
November 2001: Tenth Circuit Finds States Are Not Required to Adopt Regulatory Systems for Nonpoint Source Pollution at the Antidegradation Stage under the Clean Water Act American Wildlands, et al. v. Browner, et al. 260 F.3d 1192 (10th Cir. 2001).
October 2001: Tenth Circuit Upholds Montana's Water Quality Laws American Wildlands v. Browner ___ F.3d ___, Case No. 00-1224 (10th Cir. Aug. 8, 2001).
Notice Provisions
February 2009: District Court Holds Jurisdictional Prerequisites for CWA Citizen Suit Include Notice Letter to Allege the Same Claims as Complaint Fitzgibbons v. Cook and Thorburn and Hancock County Drainage Districts, ___F.Supp.2d___ 1:08-CV-165 (W.D. Mich. Dec. 8, 2008)
January 2009: District Court Rules Assignee May Bring CERCLA Section 107 Claim, but Failed to Satisfy Notice Provisions under Clean Water Act and RCRA Citizen Suit Provisions Moraine Properties, LLC v. Ethyl Corporation, ___F.Supp.2d___ 3:07-CV-229 (S.D. OH Oct. 27, 2008)
March 2007: Tenth Circuit Rules that U.S. EPA’s Prosecution under the Clean Water Act Precludes Citizen’s Suit and Citizen’s Notice Is Defective Karr, et al. v. Hefner, et al., ___ F.3d___ 05-7105 (10th Cir. Feb. 2, 2007)
October 2004: Ninth Circuit Reverses District Court’s Ruling that Ten Page Notice-of-Intent to Sue under the Clean Water Act Is Invalid WaterKeepers v. AG Industrial Mfg., Inc 375 F.3d 913 (9th Cir. 2004)
November 2002: Ninth Circuit Affirms Clean Water Act Citizen Suit against Dairy Operation Community Association for Restoration of the Environment v. Henry Bosma Dairy ___F.3d___, Case No. 01-35261(9th Cir. Sept. 16, 2002).
June 2001: California Court Throws Out Several "Proposition 65" Lawsuits Using Federal Precedent on the Adequacy of 60-Day Notices Consumer Cause, Inc. v. Arco Oil & Gas Company, et al. ___Cal.App.4th___, Case Nos.B132719,B1322723,B134924 (2nd Dist. April 25, 2001)
NPDES Permit Fees
February 2007: U.S. EPA Proposes NPDES Permit Fee Incentive Rule for Clean Water Act Section 106 Grants
NPDES Permits
October 2008: Oregon Water Quality Trading: A Marketplace for Healthier Waters
May 2008: Litigation over Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy for Nutrients and Sediments Unfolds in Pennsylvania
May 2008: Central Valley Regional Board Proposes $216,000 Penalty against City of Turlock for Sewage Discharge Violations California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Region, Administrative Civil Liability Complaint R5-2008-0512
May 2008: NPDES Permits in Illinois Face Stiffer Anti-Degradation Review
May 2006: NPDES Permit Applicants Not Entitled to a Formal Evidentiary Hearing by EPA under the Clean Water Act Dominion Energy Brayton Point, LLC v. Johnson, ___F.3d___ 05-2231 (1st Cir. Mar. 30, 2006)
January 2006: NACWA And NRDC Join Forces to Provide EPA with Alternative Wastewater Blending Policy
January 2006: U.S. Supreme Court to Re-Examine the Permitting of Intra-Basin Water Transfers S.D. Warren Company v. Maine Department of Environmental Protection, 2005 ME 27 (ME 2005); cert. granted, U.S. Sup. Ct., Case No. 04-1527 (Oct. 11, 2005)
November 2005: Ninth Circuit Holds Application of Pesticides to a River Does Not Require a NPDES Permit Fairhurst v. Hagener, ___ F.3d ___ 04-35366 (9th Cir. Sept. 8, 2005)
May 2005: District Court Requires NPDES Permits for Incidental Discharges from Ships Northwest Envtl. Advocates v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.Supp.2d___ C03-05760 (N.D. Cal. March 30, 2005)
May 2005: California Supreme Court Rules that Regional Boards May Not Consider Economic Factors to Justify Imposing Pollutant Restrictions that Are Less Stringent than Federal Standards City of Burbank v. State Water Resources Control Board, ___Cal.4th___ BS060957 (April 4, 2005)
April 2005: Second Circuit Partially Upholds and Partially Strikes Down EPA’s Concentrated Animal Feed Operation Regulations under the Clean Water Act Waterkeeper Alliance, Inc. et al v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d ___ 03-4470, (2nd Cir. Feb. 28, 2005)
March 2005: Environmental Agencies and Trout Unlimited Petition the California SWRCB Regarding Failure to Issue a NPDES Permit for Rotenone Use
March 2005: Stockton Fish Kill Solution Blames Everybody, Pleases Nobody
January 2005: Environmental Groups Claim PG&E Is Required to Obtain NPDES Permit for Diverting Water from the Eel River to the Russian River in California
January 2005: Fourth District Upholds San Diego RWQCB Permit Aimed at Reducing Runoff from Municipal Storm Sewers Building Industry Association of San Diego County v. State Water Resources Control Board, ___Cal.App.4th___ D042385 (4th Dist. Dec. 7, 2004)
November 2004: Eleventh Circuit Holds that Federal Court Jurisdiction Exists for Case Alleging Violation of State-Issued Clean Water Act Permit Parker v. Scrap Metal Processors, Inc., ___F.3d___ 03-14516 (11th Cir. Sept. 28, 2004)
August 2004: Supreme Court Denies Certiorari to Ninth and Fifth Circuit Decisions Allowing Permitting Requirements For Discharges From Small Storm Sewer Systems and Small Construction Sites Environmental Defense Center, Inc. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 344 F.3d 832 (9th Cir. 2003)
July 2004: The Supreme Court Decision in Miccosukee: What Was Decided and the Practical Implications of What May Follow
July 2004: State Water Resources Control Board Adopts General Permit for Discharge of Aquatic Pesticides.
March 2004: District Court Rules that City of Healdsburg Is Required to Obtain NPDES Permit in Conjunction for Wastewater Discharges into Pond near the Russian River Northern California River Watch v. City of Healdsburg ___F.Supp.2d.___, Case No. C 01-04686 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 23, 2004).
November 2003: California Court of Appeal Decides Regional Boards Need Not Consider Economic Burdens when Determining Permit Effluent Limitations City of Burbank v. California State Water Resources Control Bd. ___Cal.App.4th___, Case No. B150912; City of Los Angeles v. State Water Resources Control Bd., Case Nos. B151175, B152562, consolidated (2nd Dist. Aug. 18, 2003).
October 2003: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Issues New Guidance Regarding NPDES Permits for Pesticides and Herbicides
June 2003: Tenth Circuit Denies Attorney Fees in Mooted Clean Water Act Case Amigos Bravos, et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency, et al. ___F.3d___, Case No. 02-2030 (10th Cir. April 2, 2003).
June 2003: Ninth Circuit Holds Discharge of Unaltered Groundwater Is "Pollution" within the Meaning of the Clean Water Act Northern Plains Resource Council v. Fidelity Exploration and Development Company, ___F.3d___, Case No. 0235836 (9th Cir. April 10, 2003).
June 2003: Fifth Circuit Rejects Tenth Amendment Challenges to Clean Water Act. City of Abilene v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ___F.3d___, Case Nos. 01-60894 and 01-60895 (5th Cir. April 2, 2003).
May 2003: District Court Finds Mushroom Waste Processing Facility's Wastewater Processing System Is a "Point Source" under the Clean Water Act Warren Reynolds, et al. v. Rick's Mushroom Service ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 01-3773 (E.D. Pa. Feb. 24, 2003).
April 2003: Eighth Circuit Affirms Mootness of Non-Permitted Discharge under the Clean Water Act Mississippi River Revival, Inc., et al. v. City of Minneapolis, Minnesota, et al. ___F.3d___, Case No. 01-2511 (8th Cir. Feb. 7, 2003).
December 2002: Circuit Court: Second Circuit Vacates Dismissal of Lawsuit Alleging Pesticide Applications in Wetlands Violate Federal Law Altman v. Amherst ___F.3d___, Case No. 01-7468 (2nd Cir. Sept. 26, 2002)
November 2002: The Ever-Expanding NPDES Permit: Proposed "Capacity, Management, Operation and Maintenance" Regulations for Municipal Sewer Systems
November 2002: Third Circuit Upholds EPA's Pretreatment Program Requirements for North Borough Publicly Owned Treatment Works Welch Foods, Inc. v. Borough of North East ___F.3d___, Case No. 01-3456 (3rd Cir. Sept. 13, 2002)
November 2002: Ninth Circuit Affirms Clean Water Act Citizen Suit against Dairy Operation Community Association for Restoration of the Environment v. Henry Bosma Dairy ___F.3d___, Case No. 01-35261(9th Cir. Sept. 16, 2002).
November 2002: State Water Resources Control Board Issues Order on City of Vacaville's Petition for Review of Waste Discharge Requirements.
June 2001: State Water Resources Control Board Issues Model Cleanup and Abatement Order in Response to "Talent Decision"
May 2001: Ninth Circuit Holds Irrigation District Must Obtain NPDES Permit for Weed Control Activities in Canal Headwaters, Inc. v. Talent Irrigation District ___F.3d___,Case No.99-35373 (9th Cir., March 12, 2001)
May 2001: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service Enter into MOU to Foster Agency Coordination under Endangered Species and Clean Water Acts
April 2001: Federal/Oregon: Court Holds Irrigation District Must Obtain NPDES Permit for Weed Control Activities in Canal Headwaters, Inc. v. Talent Irrigation District ___F.3d___, 2000 WL 33224806,2001 U.S.App.LEXIS 3718 (9th Cir. March 12, 2001)
Nutrient Criteria
October 2008: Environmentalists Sue EPA to Force Development of Numeric Nutrient Criteria for Florida Waters Florida Wildlife Federation et. al. v. Stephen L. Johnson 4:08-cv-324-RH-WCS, filed July 17, 2008 (N.D. Fla.)
February 2007: Back Into Florida Waters: Federal District Court Finds Lake Okeechobee Backpumping Requires Clean Water Act NPDES Permit
January 2002: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Issues Memo Concerning Nutrient Total Maximum Daily Loads
Ocean Water Quality
March 2008: Climate Change and the Clean Water Act—Environmental Group Petitions EPA to Address Ocean Water Quality
Oil and Gas Construction Activity
April 2006: aaa aaa aaa
PCBs
April 2008: San Francisco Regional Water Board Adopts Mass-Based Limits for PCBs
October 2007: Great Lakes City Refuses Harbor Cleanup Plans and Dollars
November 2004: Eleventh Circuit Holds that Federal Court Jurisdiction Exists for Case Alleging Violation of State-Issued Clean Water Act Permit Parker v. Scrap Metal Processors, Inc., ___F.3d___ 03-14516 (11th Cir. Sept. 28, 2004)
September 2004: New York District CourtDeclines to Dismiss Landowner’s Action under § 107 of CERCLA because Owner Might Qualify for the “Third Party” or “Innocent Purchaser” Defense Emerson Enterprises, LLC v. Kenneth Crosby Acquisition Corp.,___F.Supp.2d___ 03-CV-6530 CJS (W.D. N.Y. June 23, 2004)
November 2003: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Partially Approves and Disapproves California’s 2002 Clean Water Act Section 303(d) List
Perchlorate
December 2008: U.S. EPA Poised to Leave Perchlorate Unregulated in Drinking Water
April 2003: Los Angeles Regional Board Issues Update on Perchlorate in Region's Groundwater
Performance Standard
July 2007: Ninth Circuit Decides that Permitting Process for Fill Material under the Clean Water Act Must Comply with Performance Standard in Sections 301 and 306 Southeast Alaska Conservation Council v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.3d___ 06-35679 (9th Cir. May 22, 2007)
May 2007: Ninth Circuit Announces Intention to Hold Permitting Process for Dredged or Fill Material Must Comply with Performance Standard of the Clean Water Act Southeast Alaska Conservation Council v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.3d___ 06-35679 (9th Cir. March 16, 2007)
Permit Compliance System
May 2006: The Dirt on Clean Water Act Permit Violations: Recent U.S. PIRG Study Highlights Deficiencies in Current Water Protection Policy and Enforcement
Pesticides
March 2009: Sixth Circuit in Consolidated Circuit Decision, Overturns EPA Rule Allowing Pesticide Application without a Clean Water Act NPDES Permit The National Cotton Council of America v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 06-4630 (6th Cir. Jan. 7, 2009)
March 2009: The Sixth Circuit Carries the Load for the Other Circuits—Holds that Clean Water NPDES Permits Are Required for Aquatic Pesticide Application
January 2009: District Court Finds Suffolk County Not Liable under the Clean Water Act for Pesticide Use Resulting in Fish Kills Peconic Baykeeper, Inc. v. Suffolk County, ___F.Supp.2d___ CV 04-4828 (E.D. N.Y. Nov. 17, 2008)
January 2008: Adrift in the Water: Key Provisions of the Water Quality Program Remain Untethered
March 2006: Water Rights and Wastewater Discharge Litigation in the Eastern United States
November 2005: Ninth Circuit Holds Application of Pesticides to a River Does Not Require a NPDES Permit Fairhurst v. Hagener, ___ F.3d ___ 04-35366 (9th Cir. Sept. 8, 2005)
August 2005: Trends in Water Law Litigation in the Eastern United States
February 2005: District Court in New York Holds Citzen’s Group Cannot Sue United States to Prevent Mosquito Spraying. Altman v. United States, States, ___F.Supp.2d___. Case No. 98-CV-237E(F), (W.D.N.Y. Dec. 30, 2004).
July 2004: State Water Resources Control Board Adopts General Permit for Discharge of Aquatic Pesticides.
February 2004: The Nation’s Water Wars Head East
October 2003: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Issues New Guidance Regarding NPDES Permits for Pesticides and Herbicides
December 2002: Circuit Court: Second Circuit Vacates Dismissal of Lawsuit Alleging Pesticide Applications in Wetlands Violate Federal Law Altman v. Amherst ___F.3d___, Case No. 01-7468 (2nd Cir. Sept. 26, 2002)
Pharmaceuticals
February 2010: Center for Biological Diversity Petitions EPA to Regulate Chemicals that Pose Widespread Risks to Human and Animal Reproduction
June 2008: U.S. Senate Holds April Hearing on Regulation of Pharmaceuticals in Drinking Water—Review of Recent Federal Efforts Dealing with Emerging Contaminants in Drinking Water
Phosphorus
May 2006: District Court Grants, in Part, EPA’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings as to Claims Related to Setting of Phosphorous Discharge Standards under the Clean Water Act Miccosukee Tribe of Indians v. United States, ___F.Supp.2d___ 04021448 (S.D. Fl. Feb. 16, 2006)
September 2005: Ninth Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment for Defendants in Case Alleging Over-Abundance of Phosphorous in Lake Steilacoom Lake Improvement Club Inc. v. State of Washington, ___F.3d.___ 03-35888 (9th Cir. July 6, 2005)
November 2001: Second Circuit Allows Total Maximum Daily Loads to Be Established on Annual, Not Daily, Basis Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. Muszynski ___F.3d___, Case No. 00-6232 (2nd Cir., Oct. 11, 2001).
Pleading
January 2010: District Court Finds Pleadings Sufficient to Withstand Motion to Dismiss Clean Water Act and RCRA Claims against Walt Disney Company Environmental World Watch, Inc. v. The Walt Disney Company, ___F. Supp.2d___ CV09-04045 DDP (C.D. Cal. 2009)
Point Source Pollution
October 2009: Second Circuit Affirms District Court Decision Dismissing RCRA and Clean Water Act Claims against Shooting Range and Alleged Lead Contamination Simsbury-Avon Preservation Society, LLC v. Metacon Gun Club, Inc.,___F.3d___ 07-0795-cv, (2nd Cir. July 31, 2009)
January 2005: Sixth Circuit Finds EPA Rules on Discharge of Effluent from Mines Violate Effluent Provisions of Clean Water Act Citizens’ Coal Counsel v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 02-3628 (6th Cir. Oct. 7, 2004)
July 2004: The Supreme Court Decision in Miccosukee: What Was Decided and the Practical Implications of What May Follow
May 2004: U.S. Supreme Court Ducks Direct Decision on NPDES Requirements for Inter-Basin Water Transfers South Florida Water Mgmt. Dist. v. Miccosukee Tribe of Indians ___U.S.___, Case No. 02-626 (U.S. March 23, 2004).
January 2004: District Court Rules that Timber Companies Engaging in Forest Logging Are No Exempt from Clean Water Act’s Permitting Process for Point Sources Environmental Protection Information Center v. Pacific Lumber Company et al. ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. C 01-2821 MHP (N.D. Cal. Oct, 14, 2003).
May 2003: District Court Finds Mushroom Waste Processing Facility's Wastewater Processing System Is a "Point Source" under the Clean Water Act Warren Reynolds, et al. v. Rick's Mushroom Service ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 01-3773 (E.D. Pa. Feb. 24, 2003).
November 2002: Ninth Circuit Affirms Clean Water Act Citizen Suit against Dairy Operation Community Association for Restoration of the Environment v. Henry Bosma Dairy ___F.3d___, Case No. 01-35261(9th Cir. Sept. 16, 2002).
October 2002: Court of Appeal: Tenth Circuit Upholds Summary Judgment for Defendant in Clean Water Act Case where there Was No Evidence of Point-source Discharge Bufford v. Williams, ___F.3d___,Case No.00-6055 (10th Cir.July 2,2002).
October 2002: Eleventh Circuit Upholds Flood Irrigation Practice under Clean Water Act Agricultural Exemption Fishermen against the Destruction of the Environment, Inc. v. Closter Farms, Inc., ___F.3d___, Case No. 01-11932 (11th Cir. Aug. 7, 2002).
September 2002: Tenth Circuit Upholds Summary Judgment for Defendant in Clean Water Act Case where There Was No Evidence of Point-source Discharge Bufford v. Williams, ___F.3d___,Case No.00-6055 (10th Cir.July 2,2002).
Pollutant
November 2008: District Court Finds Spilled Heating Oil Did Not Constitute a ‘Pollutant’ under the Clean Water Act or Fall under the Pollution Exclusion of a Homeowners Insurance Policy Whitmore v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Co., ___ F.Supp.2d___ 07-5162 (E.D. Pa Sept. 30, 2008)
Pollution
April 2005: Supreme Judicial Court of Maine Holds that the Passing of Pollutants through a Hydroelectric Dam Constitutes a “Discharge” under the Clean Water Act S.D. Warren Company v. Maine Board of Environmental Protection Cum-04-314 (Maine Feb. 15, 2005)
July 2004: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Wal-Mart Reach Major Settlement for Stormwater Violations at Construction Sites. United States of America, et al., v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. 04301 (D. Del. May 12, 2004).
July 2003: Non-Native Fish Deemed “Pollutant”; Maine District Court Fines Salmon Farming Operations under the Clean Water Act USPIRG v. Atlantic Salmon of Maine, L.L.C./ USPIRG v. Stolt Sea Farm, Inc ___F.Supp.2d___, Case Nos. 00-151-B-C, 00-149-B-C (D. Me. May 28, 2003).
June 2003: Ninth Circuit Holds Discharge of Unaltered Groundwater Is "Pollution" within the Meaning of the Clean Water Act Northern Plains Resource Council v. Fidelity Exploration and Development Company, ___F.3d___, Case No. 0235836 (9th Cir. April 10, 2003).
June 2003: Washington State Enforcement Action Deeming Water Diversion Pollution" Alarms Water Users, Energizes Legislature
July 2002: The "Sludge" Boat? - The Efficacy of the Current Statutory and Enforcement Schemes to Regulate the Discharge of Waste Materials by the Cruise Ship Industry
February 2001: Sixth Circuit Holds District Court Must Sentence Wetlands Developer in Accordance with United States Sentencing Guidelines United States v. Rapanos ___F.3d___,No.98-2424 (6th Cir. Dec. 15, 2000)
Pollution Permitting Authority
August 2007: U.S. Supreme Court Holds Section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act Inapplicable to EPA Transfer of NPDES Permitting Authority to Arizona National Assoc. of Home Builders v. Defenders of Wildlife, ___U.S.___ 06-340, 06-549 (U.S. June 25, 2007)
October 2005: Ninth Circuit Reverses EPA Decision to Permit Arizona to Administer Federal Clean Water Act Permitting Program Defenders of Wildlife v. U.S. EPA, ___F.3d___ 03-71439 (9th Cir. Aug. 22, 2005)
Pretreatment Regulations
February 2006: EPA’s Pretreatment Streamlining Rule Authorizes Greater Local Control over Federal Pretreatment Program 70 Fed. Reg. 60134 (Oct. 14, 2005)
November 2005: U.S. EPA Adopts Revisions Designed to Streamline Pretreatment Regulations for Discharges to Publicly Owned Treatment Works
Private Actions
January 2004: First Circuit Upholds District Court’s Refusal to Take Jurisdiction over Clean Water Act Claim for User Charges Templeton Board of Sewer Commissioners v. American Tissue Mills of Massachusetts, Inc. ___F.3d___, Case No. 03-1134 (1st Cir. Dec 9, 2003).
Publicly Owned Treatment Works
October 2008: News From the West
March 2008: Please Show Us the Way: Stormwater Regulation—The California Experience
October 2006: D.C. Circuit Rejects Coke and Coal Industry Association’s Challenges to EPA’s Revised Clean Water Act Pretreatment Standards American Coke and Coal Chemicals Institute v. U.S. EPA 452 F.3d 930 (D.C. Cir. 2006)
February 2006: EPA’s Pretreatment Streamlining Rule Authorizes Greater Local Control over Federal Pretreatment Program 70 Fed. Reg. 60134 (Oct. 14, 2005)
November 2005: U.S. EPA Adopts Revisions Designed to Streamline Pretreatment Regulations for Discharges to Publicly Owned Treatment Works
January 2004: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Issues Draft Policy on Municipal Wastewater Treatment Requirements during Wet Weather Conditions 68 Fed.Reg. 63042 (Nov. 7, 2003).
Puntive Damages
April 2008: U.S. Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Case—Decision Expected to Impact Punitive Damages in Environmental Cases Exxon Shipping Company et al. v. Baker et al. 07-219, U.S. Supreme Court, Feb. 27, 2008
Janurary 2002: Ninth Circuit Reverses $5 Billion Punitive Damages Verdict Arising from Exxon Valdez Oil Spill In Re: The Exxon Valdez, ___F.3d___, Case No. 97-35191 (9th Cir. Nov. 7, 2001).
Regional General Permits
February 2008: Eleventh Circuit Affirms Clean Water Act Regional General Plan Allowing a Watershed Approach to Environmental Permitting Sierra Club v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.3d___ 06-16505 (11th Cir. Dec. 7, 2007)
Restoration Plans
June 2005: Seventh Circuit Finds that a Judgment Requiring Approval of a Proposed Restoration Plan under the Clean Water Act Is Not a ‘Final Decision’ United States of America v. Heinrich, ___F.3d___ 03-4178; 04-1696 (7th Cir. March 29, 2005).
Runoff
January 2002: NEW MEXICO: Environmental Groups Intend to Refile Suit Contending New Mexico's Water Quality Standards Illegally Exempt Agricultural Runoffs and Fail to Protect Endangered Species Defenders of Wildlife and Forest Guardians v. United States Environmental Protection Agency CIV No. 011252 DJS/ WWD (D. N.M. filed Nov. 2, 2001)
Salinity
June 2007: South Delta Salinity Standards Prompt Financial Contributions for the Development of the Central Valley Salinity Management Plan
March 2006: Second Circuit Finds Environmental Group’s Article III Standing to Sue under the Clean Water Act Must Be Established before Dismissal for Lack of Statutory Standing Alliance for Environmental Renewal, et al. v. Pyramid Crossgates Company, et al., ___F.3d___ 04-3000-CV (2nd Cir. Jan. 24, 200)
Salmon
July 2003: Non-Native Fish Deemed “Pollutant”; Maine District Court Fines Salmon Farming Operations under the Clean Water Act USPIRG v. Atlantic Salmon of Maine, L.L.C./ USPIRG v. Stolt Sea Farm, Inc ___F.Supp.2d___, Case Nos. 00-151-B-C, 00-149-B-C (D. Me. May 28, 2003).
Sanitary Sewer Overflows
December 2009: District Court Finds Broad Standing for Clean Water Act Citizen Suit Claims, Imposes Exacting Jurisdictional Notice Requirement Stephens v. Koch Foods, LLC, ___F.Supp.2d___ 2:07-CV-175 (E.D. Tenn. Oct. 13, 2009)
December 2007: Sixth Circuit Holds Sierra Club Entitled to Attorneys’ Fees as a ‘Catalyst’ in Citizen Suit under Clean Water Act Section 1365(d) Sierra Club and Marilyn Wall v. Hamilton County Board of County Commissioners, ___F.3d___ 05-4437 (6th Cir. Oct. 18, 2007)
Seawall Structures
January 2010: The Boundary of Navigable Waters and Tidelands May Extend behind Lawfully Built Shore Defense Structures as if They Do Not Exist
Section 307
July 2005: South Bay Centralized Waste Treatment Plant Violated Clean Water Act by Mingling Waste Streams and Failing to Properly Monitor Discharges to POTW In re Clean Harbors Environmental Services, Inc., Docket No. CWA-307-9-05-46 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9)
Section 308
July 2005: South Bay Centralized Waste Treatment Plant Violated Clean Water Act by Mingling Waste Streams and Failing to Properly Monitor Discharges to POTW In re Clean Harbors Environmental Services, Inc., Docket No. CWA-307-9-05-46 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9)
Selenium
March 2008: District Court Rules Unilateral State Permit Modification Orders to Mines Cannot Avoid CWA Citizen Complaints over Ongoing Violations of Original Permit Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition v. Apogee Coal Company LLC, ___F.Supp2d___ 3:07-0413 (S.D. W.Va. Jan. 24, 2008)
Sentencing Guidelines
February 2008: District Court Seeks to Deter Clean Water Act Violations by Sentencing Violator to Five Years In Prison U.S. v. Hagerman, ___F.Supp.2d___ IP 06-139-CR-1 H/F, IP-06-139-CR-2 H/F (S.D. Ind. Nov. 28, 2007)
June 2004: Eleventh Circuit Affirms Sentencing for Continuous Discharging of Nonhazardous Pollutants on Wetlands without a Permit. 02-16627 (11th Cir. April 20, 2004). United States v. Perez, ___F.3d___
February 2001: Sixth Circuit Holds District Court Must Sentence Wetlands Developer in Accordance with United States Sentencing Guidelines United States v. Rapanos ___F.3d___,No.98-2424 (6th Cir. Dec. 15, 2000)
Shipping and Cargo Vessels
November 2006: District Court Will Vacate 30-Year-Old Regulation Providing Exception to CWA for Shipping Vessels Northwest Environmental Advocates v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.Supp.2d___ 03-05760 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 18, 2006)
November 2006: EPA Loses its NPDES Exemption for Discharges Incident to Normal Operation of a Vessel Northwest Environmental Advocates, et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, et al., ___F.Supp.2d___ C 03-05760 IS (N.D. Cal. Sept. 18, 2006)
Shipping Spills
March 2005: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
Significant Nexus Test
December 2007: Eleventh Circuit Applies Rapanos ‘Significant Nexus Test’ to Determine Criminal Activity for Discharges to Navigable Waters U.S. v. Robison, ___F.3d___ 05-17019 (11th Cir. Oct. 24, 2007)
December 2006: First Circuit Offers Broader New Understanding of Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Following Supreme Court’s Rapanos Plurality Decision United States v. Johnson, ___F.3d___ 05-1444 (1st Cir. Oct. 31, 2006)
Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures
June 2008: District Court Rejects EPA’s Definition of ‘Navigable Waters’ in its 2002 Spill Prevention Control Rule American Petroleum Institute v. Johnson, ___F.Supp.2d ___ 02-2247(PLF), 02-2254 (PLF), (D. D.C. Mar. 31, 2008)
November 2006: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
June 2001: First Circuit Applies Spill Prevention Provisions of the Clean Water Act to Small Business Pepperell Associates v. United States Environmental Protection Agency ___F.3d___, Case No.00-1708 (1st Cir. April 11, 2001)
Standing
December 2009: District Court Finds Broad Standing for Clean Water Act Citizen Suit Claims, Imposes Exacting Jurisdictional Notice Requirement Stephens v. Koch Foods, LLC, ___F.Supp.2d___ 2:07-CV-175 (E.D. Tenn. Oct. 13, 2009)
November 2009: Seventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Gun Range/Lead Pollution Suit under the Clean Water Act, RCRA and CERCLA for Lack of Standing Pollack v. U.S. Department of Justice, ___F.3d___ 08-3857 (7th Cir. 2009)
October 2009: Seventh Circuit Denies Standing for Lake Michigan Pollution Blue Eco Legal Council, et al. v. U.S. Department of Justice, ___F.3d___ 08-3857 (7th Cir. Aug. 13, 2009)
August 2009: Eighth Circuit Rules that Corporations Lacked Standing to Intervene in Clean Water Act Enforcement Action Brought by Missouri and the United States U.S. v. Missouri Industrial Energy Consumers, ___F.3d___ 08-3404 (8th Cir. June 22, 2009)
February 2009: Third Circuit Denies Citizens Group Private Right of Action and Constitutional Standing to Assert Clean Water Act Claim Delaware County Safe Drinking Water Coalition, Inc. v. Hanger, ___F.3d___ 07-4757 (3rd Cir. Dec. 29, 2008)
January 2008: District Court Rejects Standing for NRDC Alleging an ‘Interest in the Protection of Water Bodies’ under the Clean Water Act National Association of Home Builders v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.Supp.2d___ 07-0972 (D. D.C. Nov. 6, 2007)
January 2008: D.C. District Court Rejects Standing for NRDC Alleging an ‘Interest in the Protection of Water Bodies’ under the Clean Water Act National Association of Home Builders v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.Spp.2d___ 07-0972 (D. D.C. Nov. 6, 2007)
October 2006: District Court Finds Environmental Group Has Standing to Challenge Gun Club under the Clean Water Act for Alleged Discharges Simsbury-Avon Preservation Society v. Metacon Gun Club, Inc., ___F.Supp.2d___ 3:04cv803 (D. Conn. Aug. 23, 2006)
June 2006: Second Circuit Finds Union Has Standing but Failed to Properly Plead Clean Water Act Claim Building and Construction Trades Council of Buffalo, New York and Vicinity v. Downtown Development, Inc., ___F.3d___ 04-4865-CV (2nd Cir. May 6, 2006)
March 2006: Second Circuit Finds Environmental Group’s Article III Standing to Sue under the Clean Water Act Must Be Established before Dismissal for Lack of Statutory Standing Alliance for Environmental Renewal, et al. v. Pyramid Crossgates Company, et al., ___F.3d___ 04-3000-CV (2nd Cir. Jan. 24, 200)
August 2005: Seventh Circuit Holds that NRDC Lacks Standing to Challenge EPA’S General Permit Scheme for Construction Stormwater Discharge, but Has Standing to Challenge Procedures for Creating the General Permit Scheme Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Ass’n v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 03-3277, 03-3278, 03-3279, 03-3280, 03-3281 & 03-3865 (7th Cir. June 13, 2005)
May 2005: Are the Clean Water Act’s Citizen Suit Provisions Being Abused in California?
December 2004: Sixth Circuit Finds Groups Have Standing in Clean Water Act Litigation: American Canoe Association Paddles Local Sewer Commission American Canoe Association v City of Louisa Water & Sewer Commission, ___F.3d___ 02-6018, 2004 WL 243536 (6th Cir. Nov. 1, 2004)
July 2004: Sixth Circuit Dismisses Clean Water Act Citizen Suit Based on City’s Improvement to Wastewater Treatment Systems. Ailor v. City of Maynardville, ___F.3d___ 01-6562 (6th Cir. May 17, 2004).
December 2002: Federal Court Jurisdiction of Citizen Suits under the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act: Will the Ninth Circuit Ease the Path into Court for Citizen Plaintiffs?
November 2002: Ninth Circuit Finds the Threat of Environmental Harm May Confer Standing if the Harm Is "Sufficiently Concrete" Central Delta Water Agency v. United States ___F.3d___, Case No. 01-16172 (9th Cir. Sept. 26, 2002).
October 2002: Court of Appeal: Tenth Circuit Upholds Summary Judgment for Defendant in Clean Water Act Case where there Was No Evidence of Point-source Discharge Bufford v. Williams, ___F.3d___,Case No.00-6055 (10th Cir.July 2,2002).
September 2002: Tenth Circuit Upholds Summary Judgment for Defendant in Clean Water Act Case where There Was No Evidence of Point-source Discharge Bufford v. Williams, ___F.3d___,Case No.00-6055 (10th Cir.July 2,2002).
State Implementation Plans
October 2009: State Water Resources Control Board Adopts New NPDES General Construction Permit and Waste Discharge Requirements for Stormwater Discharges
June 2009: Chicago Area Waterway Rulemaking Continues Without an End in Sight
April 2008: State Water Board to Consider Adoption of Proposed Statewide Policy for Compliance Schedules in National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
February 2008: Clean Water Act Citizen Suits and Preclusion Due to State Action—District Court Bars Claims on Res Judicata Grounds on Written Stipulation between State and Agency Friends of Milwaukee’s Rivers, et al, v. Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, ___F.Supp.2d___ 2:2007cv00005 (E.D. Wis. Dec. 14, 2007)
December 2007: Illinois Undertakes Significant Water Quality Standards Revision for the Chicago Area
December 2006: EPA Approves St Johns River Site Specific Alternative Criteria for River Discharges—Suit against EPA to Block Florida Clean Water Act Rule Change Heats Up St. Johns Riverkeeper v. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency 4:06-cv-00332-SPM-WCS, filed July 5, 2006 (N.D. Fla.)
February 2003: Fifth Circuit Reverses EPA's Approval of State Implementation Plan for Beaumont, Texas Sierra Club, et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, et al2002; as revised Dec. 31, 2002). ___F.3d___, Case No. 01-60537 (5th Cir. Dec. 11,
Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plans
July 2009: California State Water Resources Control Board Issues Draft Construction General Permit Regulating Storm Water Discharges
August 2008: U.S. EPA Reissues Construction General Permit as an Interim Step in Anticipation of New Effluent Standards
April 2007: State Water Resources Control Board Issues Draft Proposed Revisions to General NPDES Permit for Storm Water Discharge from Construction Sites
Stormwater
February 2010: EPA Targets an Ambitiously Broad New Class of Stormwater Dischargers
July 2009: California State Water Resources Control Board Issues Draft Construction General Permit Regulating Storm Water Discharges
July 2009: Regional Water Board Incorporates Multi-Party Compromise into Sweeping New Storm Water Permit for Ventura County
October 2008: State Board Freezes Enrollment in Statewide General Storm Water NPDES Permits for Construction and Industrial Projects Following Writ in City of Arcadia Case
August 2008: Home Builders Settle CWA Storm Water Violations Agreeing to Pay Penalties Totaling $4.3 Million
August 2008: Ninth Circuit Rejects EPA’s Interpretation of Contamination under NPDES of Clean Water Act Natural Resources Defense Counsel v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 06-73217 (9th Cir. May 23, 2008)
March 2008: Please Show Us the Way: Stormwater Regulation—The California Experience
March 2008: A New Challenge to Stormwater Regulation in Oregon
December 2007: Sixth Circuit Holds Sierra Club Entitled to Attorneys’ Fees as a ‘Catalyst’ in Citizen Suit under Clean Water Act Section 1365(d) Sierra Club and Marilyn Wall v. Hamilton County Board of County Commissioners, ___F.3d___ 05-4437 (6th Cir. Oct. 18, 2007)
October 2007: Green Infrastructure: A Storm Perfected?
May 2007: District Court Finds Clean Water Act Permits Not Needed for Discharges of Stormwater from Ditches alongside Logging Roads Northwest Environmental Defense Center v. Brown, et al.,___F.Supp.2d___ 06-1270 (D. Or. March 1, 2007)
May 2007: District Court Finds Storm Water Runoff from Construction Projection Is Proper Basis for Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Patterson, et al. v. The Barden & Robenson Corporation, ___F.Supp.2d___ 04-CV-0803E (W.D. N.Y. February 16, 2007)
April 2007: District Court Finds Storm Water Runoff from Construction Projection Is Proper Basis for Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Patterson, et al. v. The Barden & Robenson Corporation, ___F.Supp.2d___ 04-CV-0803E (W.D. N.Y. Feb. 16, 2007)
January 2007: California Court of Appeal Determines that Best Management Practices May Be Used Instead of Numerical Limits for Storm Water Discharges Divers’ Environmental Conservation Organization v. State Water Resources Control Board, ___Cal. App.4th___ DO46112 (4th Dist. Nov. 28, 2006)
January 2007: Eleventh Circuit Addresses the Permit-by-Rule Exception to RCRA Quebell Parker v. Scrap Metal Processors, Inc.,___F.3d___ 05-16904 (11th Cir. Oct. 24, 2006)
October 2006: Development in Bald Eagle Habitat Permanently Enjoined; Developer Fined $1.3 Million under Clean Water Act Center for Biological Diversity v. Marina Point Development Associates 434 F.Supp.2d 789 (C.D. Cal. 2006)
June 2006: Dallas, Texas Capitulates to EPA, Will Invest $3.5 Million in Bolstering Its Inadequate Stormwater System, and Pay $800,000 Fine
May 2006: Georgia DNR Issues the ‘Flint River Basin Regional Water Development and Conservation Plan’—Moratorium on Farm Water Use Permits Lifted Upper Chattahoochee River Keeper Fund, Inc., et al. v. Environmental Protection Division of Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources State Office of Administrative Hearings, filed April 16, 2006
April 2006: Fourth District Rules in Favor of RWQCB in Challenge to NPDES Permit for Municipal Storm Water City of Rancho Cucamonga v. Regional Water Quality Control Board, ____ Cal.App.4th. ____ D043877, (4th Dist. Jan. 26, 2006)
April 2006: aaa aaa aaa
August 2005: Seventh Circuit Holds that NRDC Lacks Standing to Challenge EPA’S General Permit Scheme for Construction Stormwater Discharge, but Has Standing to Challenge Procedures for Creating the General Permit Scheme Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Ass’n v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 03-3277, 03-3278, 03-3279, 03-3280, 03-3281 & 03-3865 (7th Cir. June 13, 2005)
July 2005: Sacramento County Superior Court Upholds Narrative-Based General Stormwater Permit Associated With Construction Activity San Francisco Baykeeper, et al. v. California State Water Resources Control Board 99CS01929 (Sacramento Cty. Superior Ct. May 18, 2005)
July 2005: Court Rules Commission Must Consider whether State Is Required to Pay for Stormwater NPDES Compliance Costs County of Los Angeles v. State of California BS089769 (Los Angeles Cty. Superior Ct. 2005)
January 2005: Fourth District Upholds San Diego RWQCB Permit Aimed at Reducing Runoff from Municipal Storm Sewers Building Industry Association of San Diego County v. State Water Resources Control Board, ___Cal.App.4th___ D042385 (4th Dist. Dec. 7, 2004)
August 2004: Supreme Court Denies Certiorari to Ninth and Fifth Circuit Decisions Allowing Permitting Requirements For Discharges From Small Storm Sewer Systems and Small Construction Sites Environmental Defense Center, Inc. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 344 F.3d 832 (9th Cir. 2003)
July 2004: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Wal-Mart Reach Major Settlement for Stormwater Violations at Construction Sites. United States of America, et al., v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. 04301 (D. Del. May 12, 2004).
January 2004: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Launches Online System for Construction Site Stormwater Runoff Compliance
December 2003: Ninth Circuit Requires Agency Review and Public Participation in the Issuance of Notices of Intent Pursuant to the CWA’s Phase II Stormwater Requirements Environmental Defense Center, Inc. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency , ___F.3d___, Case Nos. 00-70014, 00-70734 and 00-70822 (9th Cir. Sept. 15, 2003)
November 2003: State Water Resources Control Board Issues Water Quality Order on General Permit for Stormwater Discharges Associated with Construction Projects
July 2003: New Air Quality Plans Could Complicate Efforts to Control Water Discharge at Construction Sites
June 2003: Fifth Circuit Rejects Tenth Amendment Challenges to Clean Water Act. City of Abilene v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ___F.3d___, Case Nos. 01-60894 and 01-60895 (5th Cir. April 2, 2003).
April 2003: Eighth Circuit Affirms Mootness of Non-Permitted Discharge under the Clean Water Act Mississippi River Revival, Inc., et al. v. City of Minneapolis, Minnesota, et al. ___F.3d___, Case No. 01-2511 (8th Cir. Feb. 7, 2003).
March 2003: The Wandering Clean Water Act: Ninth Circuit Tackles Regulation of Stormwater Pollution from "Small" Dischargers Environmental Defense Center, Inc., et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ___F.3d___, Consolidated Case Nos. 00-70014; 00-70734; 0070822 (9th Cir. Feb 14, 2003).
August 2002: City's Storm Drainage Fee Is a Property-related Fee under Prop 218. Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., et. al. v. City of Salinas, et. al., 98 Cal.App.4th 1351 (6th Dist.).
January 2002: State Water Resources Control Board Upholds Strict Regulations on Storm-Water Runoff
November 2001: ARIZONA: EPA Increasingly Active on Storm Water Compliance; Endangered Species Act Connection
November 2001: Captured Urban Runoff, Drained Groundwater, and Salvaged, Waste and Return Flows: Whose Water Is It?
Stormwater Discharge Permits
February 2010: Eighth Circuit Finds EPA Penalty under Clean Water Act Section 1319(g) (1) for Failure to Apply for Storm Water Permit, Inappropriate Service Oil, Inc. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 08-2819 (8th Cir. Dec. 28, 2009)
February 2010: EPA Targets an Ambitiously Broad New Class of Stormwater Dischargers
Stormwater Pollution Control Plans
June 2008: San Luis Obispo County Adopts Ordinance to Reduce Pollutants in Storm Drain System
March 2008: A New Challenge to Stormwater Regulation in Oregon
TCE
September 2004: Minnesota District Court Finds Response Action by Private Party Not a “Removal” Pursuant to CERCLA. Jostens, Inc. v. Vopak, Inc., et al., ___F.Supp.2d___ 02-3761 (D. Minn. July, 28, 2004)
Tier 2.5 Protection
April 2007: Enmity Flows over West Virginia Streams and Clean Water Act Protection
Tier II Exemptions
November 2008: Sixth Circuit Orders Kentucky’s Clean Water Act ‘Tier II Exemptions for De Minimus Discharges’ Remanded to EPA Kentucky Waterways Alliance, et al. v. Johnson, ___F.3d___ 06-5614 (6th Cir. Sept. 3, 2008)
Timber Harvesting
July 2008: District Court Reverses Decision Regarding Exemption of Timber Harvest Plans under the Clean Water Act Ogeechee-Canoochee Riverkeeper, Inc. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.Supp.2d___ 606-CV-102 (S.D. Ga. May 27, 2008)
January 2002: State Water Resources Control Board Requires Water Quality Monitoring of Logging in the "Hole in the Headwaters"; Is It Expanding Its Jurisdiction over Lands with Timber Harvesting Plans?
Total Dissolved Solids
April 2008: aaa aaaa aaa
Total Maximum Daily Loads
February 2010: EPA Takes Steps to Implement Executive Order to Protect the Chesapeake Bay
January 2010: New Initiatives for Chesapeake Bay Restoration and Protection—The Government Gets Serious about the Bay
November 2009: Eighth Circuit Upholds U.S. EPA’s Approval of Iowa’s Clean Water Act § 303(d) List of Impaired Waters Thomas v. Jackson, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 08-2152 (8th Cir. Sep. 10, 2009)
November 2008: Regional Water Quality Control Board Pressures Bureau of Reclamation to Address Salinity in the San Joaquin River
November 2008: Open for Business: Oregon’s DEQ Set to Clarify Rules for the Water Quality Trading Marketplace
October 2008: Environmentalists Sue EPA to Force Development of Numeric Nutrient Criteria for Florida Waters Florida Wildlife Federation et. al. v. Stephen L. Johnson 4:08-cv-324-RH-WCS, filed July 17, 2008 (N.D. Fla.)
October 2008: State Board Freezes Enrollment in Statewide General Storm Water NPDES Permits for Construction and Industrial Projects Following Writ in City of Arcadia Case
March 2008: Please Show Us the Way: Stormwater Regulation—The California Experience
March 2008: EPA’s Latest TMDL Guidance on Daily Loads May Limit the Impact of the ‘Daily’ Issue Stemming from Friends of the Earth v. EPA
February 2008: EPA Approves Plan by Northeast States to Lower Mercury Levels in Fish
January 2008: Adrift in the Water: Key Provisions of the Water Quality Program Remain Untethered
February 2007: State Water Resources Control Board Considers Policies Regarding Mercury Abatement and Methylmercury Objectives
November 2006: EPA’s TMDL Guidance Following the D.C. and Second Circuit Split over the Meaning of ‘Daily’
June 2006: District of Columbia Circuit Finds that under the Clean Water Act, the Word ‘Daily’ Actually Means Daily Friends of the Earth v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 05-5015 (D.C. Cir., April 26, 2006)
March 2006: Court of Appeal Reviews Decision on Zero Trash TMDL for the Los Angeles River City of Arcadia v. State Water Resources Control Board, ___Cal.App.4th___ D043877 (4th Dist. Jan. 26, 2006)
March 2006: Northeastern States Utilize Intervention in Superfund Site to Protect Water Resources United States v. Union Corp. et al. 80-1589 (E.D. PA)
February 2006: Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board Addresses Rising Salinity Levels in California’s Central Valley Water Supplies
February 2006: Pennsylvania Judge Questions EPA’s Authority to Issue TMDLs Lower Salford Township Authority v. Commonwealth of PA Department of Environmental Protection 2005-100-K (Penn. EHB Oct. 25, 2005)
August 2005: State Water Resources Control Board Orders Enrollment of Timber Harvest Plans under General Water Discharge Requirements Order Vacated In the Matter of the Petition of Humboldt Watershed Council, et al. SWRCB Order WQ 2005-0009, June 16, 2005
August 2005: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Can Approve State Submitted TMDL after Already Adopting Federal TMDL City of Arcadia, et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 03-16309 (9th Cir. June 15, 2005)
August 2005: Tenth Circuit Affirms Ability of U.S. EPA to Rely on State Interpretations when Approving State Water Quality Regulations Defenders of Wildlife v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 04-2151 (10th Cir. July 6, 2005)
August 2005: Trends in Water Law Litigation in the Eastern United States
June 2005: California Proposes Total Maximum Daily Load for Temperature on Salmon River
August 2004: California Regional Water Quality Control Board San Francisco Bay Region Proposes Amendment to the Water Quality Control Plan
November 2003: Water and Wine: Regulation of Vineyard and Winery Development and Operation in California’s North Coast Counties
October 2003: Ninth Circuit Mandates Increased Compliance with Section 303(d) of Clean Water Act and Upholds Temporary Ban on New Permits until TMDLs Are Established Friends of the Wild Swan v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Case Nos. 00-36001, 00-36004, 00- 36013, unpublished opinion (9th Cir. July 25, 2003).
August/September 2003: U.S. Supreme Court Denies Certiorari in Pronsolino—Section 303 of Clean Water Act Applies to Nonpoint Source Impaired Waters in Ninth Circuit Pronsolino, et al. v. Nastri, et al. ___F.3d___, Case Nos. 00-16026, 00- 16027 (9th Cir. May 31, 2002) cert. denied U.S. S.Ct. 123 S.Ct. 2573 (June 16 2003).
July 2003: Idaho Supreme Court Sets Aside TMDL for Failure to Comply with Idaho Administrative Procedures Act Asarco Incorporated v. The State of Idaho Case No. 27914 (Idaho April 25, 2003).
April 2003: Los Angeles County Sanitation District and City of Santa Clarita Ban Future Installation of Residential Water Softeners
March 2003: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Finalizes Its Water Quality Trading Policy
February 2003: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Proposes Withdrawal of the Final July 2002 TMDL Rule
November 2002: State Water Resources Control Board Adopts New Bacteria Total Maximum Daily Load for Los Angeles Coastal Beaches
September 2002: Eleventh Circuit Finds that District Court Improperly Modified Consent Decree in Clean Water Act TMDL Case Sierra Club v. Meiburg ___F.3d___,Case No.01-14587 (11th Cir.July 2,2002).
August 2002: Los Angeles RWQCB Proposes Draft Santa Monica Bay Beaches "Wet" Weather Bacteria TMDL
July 2002: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Proposes Water Quality Trading Program
June 2002: Ninth Circuit Finds that EPA Had No Duty to Establish Total Maximum Daily Loads for the State of California San Francisco Baykeeper v. Whitman, ___F.3d___ Case No. 01-16111 (April 15, 2002, amended May 3, 2002).
May 2002: Clean Water Act Enforcement Complaints Filed: City of Los Angeles Challenges "Trash Total Maximum Daily Loads"; Environmental Groups Seek Compliance with NPDES Permits at Camp Pendleton
March 2002: COLORADO: Clean Water Act Issues Impacting Water Supply
March 2002: Los Angeles Regional Board Adopts "Dry Weather" TMDL for Santa Monica Bay Beaches
March 2002: TEXAS: Clean Water Act Issues Impacting Water Supply
March 2002: CALIFORNIA: Clean Water Act Issues Impacting Water Supply
March 2002: OREGON: Clean Water Act Issues Impacting Water Supply
March 2002: WASHINGTON: Clean Water Act Issues Impacting Water Supply
March 2002: UTAH: Clean Water Act Issues Impacting Water Supply
March 2002: ARIZONA: Clean Water Act Issues Impacting Water Supply
March 2002: NEW MEXICO: Clean Water Act Issues Impacting Water Supply
January 2002: Clean Water Act Update: An Old Dog With New Tricks by Paeter E. Garcia, Esq. with the Los Angeles law firm of Weston, Benshoof, Rochefort, Rubalcava & MacCuish, LLP
January 2002: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Issues Memo Concerning Nutrient Total Maximum Daily Loads
January 2002: Status of the Environmental Protection Agenciy's Development of New TMDL Rule
November 2001: Second Circuit Allows Total Maximum Daily Loads to Be Established on Annual, Not Daily, Basis Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. Muszynski ___F.3d___, Case No. 00-6232 (2nd Cir., Oct. 11, 2001).
October 2001: Tenth Circuit Upholds Montana's Water Quality Laws American Wildlands v. Browner ___ F.3d ___, Case No. 00-1224 (10th Cir. Aug. 8, 2001).
June 2001: NRDC Recoups Large Fee Award in Clean Water Act Case Despite Losing on Most of its Claims Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. Fox 129 F.Supp.2d 666 (S. D. N. Y Feb. 6, 2001)
April 2001: Water Quality and the Infrastructure Gap: Federal Government and States Seek Solutions
April 2001: Water Quality and the Infrastructure Gap: Federal Government and States Seek Solutions
January 2001: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Solicits Comments on Costs of Total Maximum Daily Loads Program
January 2001: Federal: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Solicits Comments on Costs of Total Maximum Daily Loads Program
January 2001: TMDL Programs: State Action or Federal Control?
Toxic Pollutant Listings
July 2005: First Circuit Holds That a Final Administrative Determination by EPA Does Not Constitute a ‘Listing’ under the Clean Water Act Narragansett Electric Co. v. U.S. EPA, ___F.3d___ 04-1127 (1st Cir. May 6, 2005)
Trash
March 2006: Court of Appeal Reviews Decision on Zero Trash TMDL for the Los Angeles River City of Arcadia v. State Water Resources Control Board, ___Cal.App.4th___ D043877 (4th Dist. Jan. 26, 2006)
Treatment As State Status
December 2001: FEDERAL: Seventh Circuit Deems Wisconsin Tribe a State for Water Quality Purposes Wisconsin v. Environmental Protection Agency 266 F.3d 741, No. 99-2618 (7th Cir. Sept. 21, 2001).
Tributaries
October 2007: News from the West
April 2006: It All Depends on What the Definition of the Word ‘Tributary’ Is—Supreme Court Hears Major Environmental Cases
April 2006: aaa aaa aaa
Tributary Rule
April 2006: Tenth Circuit Provides Further Insight into Clean Water Act’s § 404 ‘Tributary Rule’ Provided Sufficient Nexus to Tie Tributaries to Downstream Navigable Waters United States v. Hubenka, ___F.3d___ 05-8006 (10th Cir. Feb. 21, 2006)
June 2005: Superior Court Upholds Central Valley Regional Board’s Conditional Waiver of Waste Discharge for Agriculture DeltaKeeper v. California Regional Water Quality Control Board for the Central Valley, 04CS00235
Tulloch" Rule
February 2009: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers Revise Clean Water Act Regulatory Definition Relating to Incidental Fallback Revisions to the Clean Water Act Regulatory Definition of ‘Discharge of Dredged Material’: Final Rule 73 Fed. Reg. 79641 (Dec. 30, 2008)
"Tulloch" Rule
April 2006: Army Corps’ ‘Tulloch II’ Interpretation of Dredge and Fill Activities under the Clean Water Act’s Section 404 Is Ripe for Judicial Review as Purely Legal Issue National Association of Home Builders, et al. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.3d___ 04-5222 (D.C. Cir. Feb. 3, 2006)
Use Attainability Analysis
December 2007: Illinois Undertakes Significant Water Quality Standards Revision for the Chicago Area
Vessel Exemption
March 2009: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Issues General Permit for Vessels
September 2004: Eighth Circuit Finds Towboat-Floating Restaurant Owners Are Not Criminally Liable under the Clean Water Act for Alleged Sewage Discharges into the Mississippi River. United States v. Templeton, Spielman, Venetian Harbors, Bonbrake, et al., ___F.3d___ O2-1284, 02-1286, 02-1510, 02-1285, 02-2775, 02-2918 (8th Cir. July 28, 2004)
Waiver of Sovereign Immunity
August 2009: Eighth Circuit Finds that State of Missouri Waived Sovereign Immunity by Joining in Clean Water Act Suit U.S. v. Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District, ___F.3d___ 08-3399EM (8th Cir. May 14, 2009)
Wastewater
November 2009: Argent Communications Group Launches Floodplain Management & Liability Reporter
April 2009: Seventh Circuit Holds Clean Water Act Citizen’s Suit Barred on Res Judicata Grounds by Subsequently Initiated State Settlement Friends of Milwaukee’s Rivers and Alliance for the Great Lakes v. Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, ___F.3d___ 08-1103 (7th Cir. Feb. 13, 2009)
March 2009: Wastewater Treatment Plants in Honolulu Required to Upgrade to Full Secondary Treatment—EPA Declines to Renew Waivers
November 2008: California Sportfishing Alliance Files Clean Water Act Suit against City of Stockton Regarding Wastewater Treatment and Collection California Sportfishing Alliance v. City of Stockton 2:2008cv02184, filed Sept. 16, 2008 (E.D. Cal)
June 2008: Fourth Circuit finds Maryland’s State Prosecution of NPDES Violation Bars Companion Clean Water Act Citizen Suit The Piney Run Preservation Association v. County Commissioners of Carroll County, Maryland, ___F.3d___ 07-1348 (4th Cir. April 23, 2008)
May 2008: Massachusetts Appeals Court Confirms Trial Court’s Discretion with Jury Instructions in Clean Water Act/State Water Quality Act Violation Case Commonwealth v. B&M Fitzgerald Builders, Inc. 07-P158 (Mass.App. March 31, 2008)
March 2008: Fifth Circuit Affirms Criminal Convictions under the Clean Water Act against Corporate Land Developer and Others for Waste Discharges U.S. v. Lucas, ___F.3d___ 06-60289 (5th Cir. Feb. 1, 2008)
December 2007: Sixth Circuit Holds Sierra Club Entitled to Attorneys’ Fees as a ‘Catalyst’ in Citizen Suit under Clean Water Act Section 1365(d) Sierra Club and Marilyn Wall v. Hamilton County Board of County Commissioners, ___F.3d___ 05-4437 (6th Cir. Oct. 18, 2007)
November 2007: District Court Declines to Stay Private Litigation in Favor of ‘Comprehensive’ Negotiations between U.S. EPA, Hawaii State Agency and Municipal Defendant Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter v. City and County of Honolulu, ___F.Supp.2d___ 04-00463 (D. Hawaii Sept. 11, 2007)
June 2007: South Delta Salinity Standards Prompt Financial Contributions for the Development of the Central Valley Salinity Management Plan
June 2007: Fourth Circuit Affirms Criminal Conviction for ‘Knowing’ Discharge under the Clean Water Act U.S. v. Cooper 482 F.3d 658 (4th Cir. 2007)
Water Acidification
March 2008: Climate Change and the Clean Water Act—Environmental Group Petitions EPA to Address Ocean Water Quality
Water Intake Structures
June 2007: Can a ‘Suite’ of Technologies Constitute the ‘Best Available’ Technology under the Clean Water Act? Second Circuit Skeptically Remands EPA’s Phase II Cooling Water Intake Rules
March 2007: Citizens Group Successfully Challenges EPA’s Implementation of CWA Regarding Cooling Water Intake Structures at Existing Power Plants River Keeper, Inc. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 04-6692-AG, 04-6693, 04-6694, 04-6695, 04-6696, 04-6697, 004- 6698, and 04-6699 (2nd Cir. Jan. 25, 2007)
March 2007: Can a ‘Suite’ of Technologies Constitute the ‘Best Available Technology’ under the Clean Water Act? Second Circuit Skeptically Remands EPA’s Phase II Cooling Water Intake Rules
Water Quality Based Effluent Limits
November 2005: California Court of Appeal Affirms Revised Discharge Permit for Dioxin in Light of Pending Total Maximum Daily Load Communities for a Better Environment v. State Water Resources Control Board, ___Cal.App.4th___ A107572, (1st Dist. Sept. 27, 2005)
April 2005: Second Circuit Partially Upholds and Partially Strikes Down EPA’s Concentrated Animal Feed Operation Regulations under the Clean Water Act Waterkeeper Alliance, Inc. et al v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d ___ 03-4470, (2nd Cir. Feb. 28, 2005)
August/September 2003: California Court of Appeal Decides Question of Narrative Standards under Clean Water Act Communities for a Better Environment v. State Water Resources Control Bd. ___Cal.App.4th___, Case No. A1000327 (1st Dist. May 30, 2003).
Water Quality Certification
April 2009: News from the West
February 2009: Ninth Circuit Confirms a Cow Is Not a Point Source of Discharges Requiring Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality Certification Oregon Natural Desert Association, et al. v. U.S. Forest Service, ___F.3d___ 08-35205 (9th Cir. Dec. 11, 2008)
February 2009: First Circuit Denies Hydroelectric Operator’s Petition to Review Stay of Order Granting New Operating License where State Rescinded CWA Water Quality Certification FPL Energy Maine Hydro LLC v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, ___F.3d___ 05-1871 (1st Cir. Dec. 23, 2008)
June 2003: District Court Orders U.S. EPA to Promulgate New Clean Water Act Temperature Standards for Oregon Northwest Environmental Advocates v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.Supp.2d___, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6482 (D. Or. March 31, 2003).
November 2002: State Decisions: Washington State Supreme Court's "Sullivan Creek" Decision Applies Clean Water Act ยง 401 Certification Decision in Elkhorn to Existing State Water Rights PUD No. 1 of Pend Oreille County v. Ecology, (Wa. July 18, 2002)
Water Quality Limited Segments
October 2003: Ninth Circuit Mandates Increased Compliance with Section 303(d) of Clean Water Act and Upholds Temporary Ban on New Permits until TMDLs Are Established Friends of the Wild Swan v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Case Nos. 00-36001, 00-36004, 00- 36013, unpublished opinion (9th Cir. July 25, 2003).
Water Quality Standards Regulations
April 2009: District Court Limits Application of Deliberative Process Privilege and Orders Documents Be Included in Administrative Record Northwest Environmental Advocates v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.Supp.2d___ 05-1876 HA (D. Or. Feb. 11, 2009)
December 2006: EPA Approves St Johns River Site Specific Alternative Criteria for River Discharges—Suit against EPA to Block Florida Clean Water Act Rule Change Heats Up St. Johns Riverkeeper v. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency 4:06-cv-00332-SPM-WCS, filed July 5, 2006 (N.D. Fla.)
March 2006: First Circuit Holds Discretionary Function Exception of The FTCA Bars Jurisdiction where Homes Were Damaged by Dredged Material Dumped by the Corps without a Water Quality Certificate or Exemption Montijo-Reyes et al. v. United States, ___F.3d___ 05-1353 (1st Cir. Jan. 24, 2006)
Water Quality Trading Program
October 2006: Issues at the Forefront of Water Quality Pollution Trading: How Agriculture, Regulation, and Market Factors Will Drive Future Trades
Water Temperature
March 2007: Citizens Group Successfully Challenges EPA’s Implementation of CWA Regarding Cooling Water Intake Structures at Existing Power Plants River Keeper, Inc. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 04-6692-AG, 04-6693, 04-6694, 04-6695, 04-6696, 04-6697, 004- 6698, and 04-6699 (2nd Cir. Jan. 25, 2007)
June 2005: California Proposes Total Maximum Daily Load for Temperature on Salmon River
September 2004: First Circuit, while Acknowledging “Collateral Order Doctrine,” Denies State of Rhode Island’s Standing before Federal Environmental Appeals Board. Rhode Island v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F.3d___ 04-1513 (1st Cir. Aug. 3, 2004)
Water Transfers
July 2009: District Court Stays Challenge to EPA Regulation Excluding Water Transfers from CWA Permit Requirements Pending Decisions in Other Courts Catskill Mountains Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Inc. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ___F. Supp.2d___ 08-5606, 08-8430 (S.D. N.Y. April 29, 2009)
August 2008: U.S. EPA Excludes Water Transfers from Clean Water Act Permit Requirements National Water Transfers Rule, 73 Fed. Reg. 33,697 (June 13, 2008) (to be codified at 40 C.F.R. pt. 122)
July 2008: EPA Issues Final Water Transfer Rule, Prepares for Litigation 73 Fed. Reg. 33697
October 2005: EPA Issues an Interpretation of the Clean Water Act that Exempts Water Transfers from NPDES Permitting Requirements
Waters of the United States
June 2008: District Court Rejects EPA’s Definition of ‘Navigable Waters’ in its 2002 Spill Prevention Control Rule American Petroleum Institute v. Johnson, ___F.Supp.2d ___ 02-2247(PLF), 02-2254 (PLF), (D. D.C. Mar. 31, 2008)
April 2008: D.C. Circuit Holds Corps’ Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Seeking Public Input Defining ‘Waters of the United States’ Did Not Reopen Rule for Challenge P & V Enterprises v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, __ _F.3d___ 07-5060, (D.C. Cir. Feb. 19, 2008)
January 2008: District Court Finds It Impossible to Apply ‘Precedent’ Set by Supreme Court in Rapanos to Subsequent Clean Water Act Cases U.S. v. Robison, ___ F.Supp.2d___ 04-PT-199-S (N.D. Ala. 2007)
August 2007: Floating a New Boat on the Jurisdictional Waters—Army Corps of Engineers and EPA Issue Rapanos Guidance
July 2007: U.S. EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Issue New Wetlands Regulatory Guidance
July 2007: EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Announce New Joint Guidance for Establishing Clean Water Act Jurisdiction over Waters of the United State
June 2007: District Court Finds Challenge to Property Falling within ‘Navigable Waters’ Definition Cannot Be the Basis for Dismissal for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction U.S. v. Sea Bay Development Corp., ___F.Supp.2d___ 2:06cv624 (E.D. Va. April 18, 2007)
May 2007: U.S. Supreme Court Denies Review of Baccarat Decision Dealing with Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Baccarat Fremont Developers, LLC v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 425 F.3d 1150 (9th Cir. 2005); cert. denied, U.S. S.Ct., Feb. 20, 2007
April 2007: Ninth Circuit Determines Best Management Practices May Be Used Instead of Numerical Limits For Storm Water Discharges San Francisco Baykeeper v. Cargill Salt Division, ___F.3d___ 04-17554 & 05-15051 (9th Cir. March 8, 2007)
August 2006: U.S. Supreme Court, In Plurality Opinion, Fails to Resolve Critical Issue of Jurisdiction under Clean Water Act, Instead Reaffirming Existing ‘Significant Nexus’ Standard Rapanos v. United States; Carrabel v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___U.S.___ 126 S.Ct. 2208 (U.S. June 19, 2006)
August 2006: Remanded: U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Federal Jurisdiction over Wetlands with Nexus—But Leaves Questions Unanswered
August 2006: Rapanos v. United States—Carabell v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: A Regulatory Scheme, a Splintered Decision and a Court in Flux
Waters of the United States'
August 2006: U.S. Supreme Court Decides Significant Wetlands Cases with Fractured Opinion Rapanos v. United States; Carrabel v. U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, ___U.S.___ 126 S.Ct. 2208 (U.S. June 19, 2006)
August 2006: Supreme Court Fails to Fully Define the Scope of the Corps’ Jurisdiction to Regulate ‘Waters of The United States’—Justice Kennedy Issues the Controlling Opinion in Rapanos v. United States; Carabell v. United State
Watershed Improvement Plans
February 2010: EPA Takes Steps to Implement Executive Order to Protect the Chesapeake Bay
Wetlands
November 2009: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Will Ramp Up Water and Wetlands Enforcement
August 2009: The U.S. Supreme Court Upholds a Corps Issued Clean Water Act 404 Permit in Lieu of a 402 Discharge Permit for Gold Mine Slurry Wastewater
August 2009: Eighth Circuit Adopts First Circuit’s Views Regarding Application of the Rapanos Decision U.S. v. Bailey, ___F.3d___ 08-1908 (8th Cir. July 9, 2009)
August 2009: News from the West
July 2009: City of Fairbanks Seeks Supreme Court Review of Ninth Circuit’s Decision Regarding the ‘Finality’ of Clean Water Act Jurisdictional Determinations
May 2009: New Strategies for Injecting Climate Change Analysis into Agency Decision-Making Likely a Washout
March 2009: Sixth Circuit Determines that ‘Sidecasting’ into Adjacent Wetlands without a Permit Violates Clean Water Act U.S. v. Cundiff, ___F.3d.___ 05-5469, 05-5905, 07-5630 (6th Cir. Feb. 4, 2009)
August 2008: District Court Allows Army Corps to Withdraw Prior Opinion of Isolated Wetlands in Favor of U.S. Asserting Clean Water Act Jurisdication Acquest Wehrle v. U.S., ___F.Supp.2d___ 06-CV-654C(SR)(W.D. NY June 20, 2008)
July 2008: Third Circuit Holds Developer’s Filling of Wetlands Rendered Environmentalists’ Challenge to Fill Permit Prudentially Moot Sierra Club v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.3d_ __ 06-4887 (3rd Cir. May 14, 2008)
July 2008: Eleventh Circuit Vacates Clean Water Act Permits, Finds District Court Improperly Acted as a Legislative Body Sierra Club v. United Transportation Union, ___F.3d__ _ 07-13297 (11th Cir. May 9, 2008)
June 2008: U.S. Army Corps and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Issue New Wetlands Compensatory Mitigation Rule 73 Fed. Reg. 19594-19705 (April 10, 2008, 40 CFR Part 230)
June 2008: District Court Holds Federally Certified Wetlands Are Not ‘Areas under Federal Jurisdiction’ for Purposes of the Endangered Species Act Northern California River Watch v. Wilcox, ___F.Supp.2d___ C06-06685CRB (N.D. Cal. March 6, 2008)
June 2008: District Court Confirms U.S. Army Corps’ Discretion in Issuing Clean Water Act Permit to City for Road Bypass in New Hampshire Wetlands Area Northwest Bypass Group v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.Supp.2d___ 06-CV-00258 (D. N.H. April 22, 2008)
May 2008: Corps Revokes Section 404 Permit Issued for a Palm Springs Resort Development Currently Enjoined from Breaking Ground by Court Order
May 2008: Corps and EPA Release New Rule to Improve Compensatory Mitigation for Wetlands and Aquatic Resources—New Rules Retain In-Lieu Fee Program Mitigation
March 2008: U.S. Army Corps’ Rejection of 404 Permit Application for Noise Violations Upheld by U.S. District Court Huntington Barclay v. U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, ___F.Supp.2d___ 06-CV-368-SM (D. N.H. Feb. 14, 2008)
November 2007: New York Appellate Division Finds Seller’s Actions in Illegally Filling in Wetlands Did Not Render Property ‘Unmarketable’ to Buyer as a Matter of Law Cone v. Daniel, 2007 N.Y.Slip.Op. 07801 (N.Y. App. Oct. 18, 2007)
August 2007: Developers Challenge New Corps, EPA Guidance for Asserting Wetlands Jurisdiction National Association of Home Builders v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, et al. 1:07-CV-00972, filed May 24, 2007, D.C. District Court
July 2007: Ninth Circuit Decides that Permitting Process for Fill Material under the Clean Water Act Must Comply with Performance Standard in Sections 301 and 306 Southeast Alaska Conservation Council v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.3d___ 06-35679 (9th Cir. May 22, 2007)
June 2007: Seventh Circuit Holds Intermittent Flooding Creating a Wetland May Be a Compensable Taking under Illinois Law Rockstead, et al v. City of Crystal Lake, ___F.3d___ 06-1286 (7th Cir. April 10, 2007)
April 2007: Ninth Circuit Determines Best Management Practices May Be Used Instead of Numerical Limits For Storm Water Discharges San Francisco Baykeeper v. Cargill Salt Division, ___F.3d___ 04-17554 & 05-15051 (9th Cir. March 8, 2007)
April 2007: District Court Rejects Tulloch II Rule—Scope of Corps’ Dredge and Fill Permitting Jurisdiction again Called into Question National Association of Home Builders v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.Supp.2d___ 01-0274 (D. D.C. Jan. 30, 2007)
March 2007: District Court Finds Gun Club’s Pond No Longer a Navigable Water in Light of U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision in Rapanos Simsbury-Avon Preservation Society v. Metacon Gun Club, ___F.Supp.2d___ 3:04 CV 803 (D. Conn. Jan. 31, 2007)
February 2007: Federal District Court Denies Preliminary Injunction Barring Road Construction and Dredge and Fill in Wetlands Area, Finding No Arbitrary Decision-Making by Army Corps Northwest Bypass Group v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.Supp.2d___ 6–CV–00258-JAW (D. N.H. Jan. 5, 2007)
January 2007: Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions
December 2006: First Circuit Offers Broader New Understanding of Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Following Supreme Court’s Rapanos Plurality Decision United States v. Johnson, ___F.3d___ 05-1444 (1st Cir. Oct. 31, 2006)
November 2006: Seventh Circuit to Follow Justice Kennedy’s Concurrence (Usually) when Applying Rapanos U.S. v. Gerke Excavating, Inc., ___F.3d___ 04-3941(7th Cir. Sept. 22, 2006)
November 2006: District Court Finds Environmental Groups Failed in Their Challenge of Corps Issued Permit to Fill in Wetlands at Meadowlands Sports Complex Sierra Club v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ___F.Supp.2d___ 05-1724 (D. N.J. Sept. 28, 2006)
October 2006: Ninth Circuit Applies Rapanos and Holds City of Healdsburg’s Wastewater Discharge into Former Mining Pond Subject to Clean Water Act Northern California River Watch v. City of Healdsburg, ___F.3d___ 04-15442 (9th Cir. Aug. 10, 2006)
October 2006: District Court Finds Environmental Group Has Standing to Challenge Gun Club under the Clean Water Act for Alleged Discharges Simsbury-Avon Preservation Society v. Metacon Gun Club, Inc., ___F.Supp.2d___ 3:04cv803 (D. Conn. Aug. 23, 2006)
October 2006: Michigan Supreme Court Let’s Stand Court of Appeals’ Ruling that Finds No Takings Claim on Wetlands Permit Denial K & K Construction, Inc. v. Michigan Dep’t of Environmental Quality 713 N.W.2d 268 (Mich. 2006)
October 2006: Sacramento Airport Fa