A district court ordered EPA to issue a temperature total maximum daily load (TMDL) under the CWA for the Columbia and Snake Rivers, which are native habitat for endangered and threatened salmon and steelhead populations. An environmental group argued that the Agency failed to issue a TMDL for the r...

The Sixth Circuit held that seepage from a coal-fired power plant adjacent to the Cumberland River did not violate the CWA. Environmental groups argued that the plant violated the CWA by leaking pollutants without a permit from its unlined coal ash ponds into groundwater that is hydrologically conne...

The Sixth Circuit held that seepage from a coal-fired power plant that reached a nearby lake violated RCRA, but not the CWA. Environmental groups argued that the chemicals being stored in coal ash ponds contaminated the surrounding groundwater, which in turn contaminated a nearby lake, in violation ...

A North Dakota district court enjoined in Iowa the 2015 Clean Water Rule, which clarifies the definition of "waters of the United States" that are protected under the CWA. The governor of Iowa sought an order from the court expressly stating that the Clean Water Rule was enjoined in Iowa following t...

The Fourth Circuit held that seepage from a coal-fired power plant did not violate §301 of the CWA, which prohibits the unauthorized discharge of any pollutant into navigable waters. An environmental group argued that the plant's landfill and settling ponds qualified as point sources from which ars...

A district court granted Texas' motion to preliminarily enjoin the 2015 Clean Water Rule in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. The state argued that implementing the rule would require it to spend significant time and taxpayer resources attempting to determine how the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wi...

The Third Circuit denied review of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's decision to grant a CWA §401 certification for a natural gas pipeline project. Environmental groups argued that the department acted arbitrarily and capriciously by issuing a §401 certification that was im...

A state review board affirmed the Washington Department of Ecology's denial of a CWA §401 certification requested by a coal company for a proposed coal export terminal. The company argued that its request was categorically exempt from the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), and that the departme...

A district court ruled in favor of environmental groups' challenge EPA's rule suspending the 2015 Waters of the United States Rule (WOTUS Rule), and enjoined the suspension rule nationwide. The groups argued that the suspension rule violated the APA by refusing to solicit public comments on the meri...

The Fourth Circuit denied environmental groups' petition to review Virginia's issuance of §401 certification under the CWA for construction of a natural gas pipeline. The groups argued that state agencies acted arbitrarily and capriciously in issuing the §401 certificate because the agencies didn'...