The U.S. Supreme Court holds that the national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit program applies not only to point sources that generate pollutants, but also to point sources that transfer pollutants originating elsewhere. The definition of a point source as a "conveyance" in Cle...
A district court dismissed an environmental group's CWA action against a poultry farm claiming that it illegally discharged chicken litter into tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay. The group claimed that chicken litter, which is alleged to contain various pollutants, was discharged without a permit fr...
A district court held that EPA cannot regulate stormwater as a pollutant under the CWA. According to the court, the language of CWA §303(d)(1)(C) is clear. EPA may set TMDLs to regulate pollutants, and pollutants are carefully defined. Because stormwater runoff is not a pollutant under the Act, EPA...
The U.S. Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision holding a water district liable under the CWA for violating its municipal separate storm sewer system permit. The lower court ruled that the violations occurred when the polluted water detected at the monitoring stations flowed out of concrete-l...
A California appellate court affirmed a lower court decision denying a municipal water district's petition challenging a water replenishment district's "water emergency" declaration for California's Central Basin. The water district argued that the replenishment district failed to comply with the Ca...
A district court dismissed claims against the manufacturer of the chemical dispersant used in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Cleanup responders and coastal residents filed suit against the manufacturer, claiming they suffered a variety of exposure-related injuries...
A district court upheld a Nevada water engineer ruling allowing a city to change the manner and place of use of surface water rights. A Native American tribe filed a petition challenging the decision, arguing that the ruling was against the public interest because the groundwater underlying the city...
The Tenth Circuit upheld a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredge and fill permit allowing a railroad company to build a terminal on land outside Kansas City, Kansas, that contains streams and wetlands. Environmental groups argued the Corps inadequately considered alternatives to the selected site unde...
A California appellate court upheld a regional water board's approval of a NPDES permit to build a desalination facility on the coast of Carlsbad, California. An environmental group argued that the board improperly required the facility to restore wetlands in lieu of implementing site, design and te...
A Minnesota appellate court held that the state environmental agency did not err in certifying under CWA §401 EPA's proposed NPDES vessel general permit, which allows shipping vessels in Lake Superior to discharge ballast water in state waters. Nonprofit groups argued that the agency applied an inc...