A district court held that its preliminary injunction enjoining EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from implementing the "waters of the United States" rule only extends to the 13 plaintiff states that challenged it. The court found significant prudential reasons to limit the scope of the preli...

A district court dismissed EPA's enforcement action against a developer for filling wetlands in violation of the CWA and ordered the Agency to pay attorney fees the developer incurred defending the suit. Relying on the U.S. Supreme Court's opinion in Rapanos v. United States, 547 U.S. 715, 36 ELR 20...

The Ninth Circuit held that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation did not violate the CWA by discharging pollutants into the Klamath River without a permit in connection with its management of an irrigation project along the California-Oregon border. The Klamath Straits Drain, part of the Klamath Irrigatio...

A district court held that it lacked jurisdiction over a coal company's lawsuit challenging EPA's and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' controversial "waters of the United States" rule. The agencies filed a motion to stay the case based, in part, on their position that exclusive jurisdiction to hear...

A district court preliminarily enjoined EPA's and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' controversial "waters of the United States" rule. Thirteen states—Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming—challenged the...

A district court held that a mining company violated state and federal permits when it discharged high levels of ionic pollution. Environmental groups successfully demonstrated that high conductivity discharges from two of the company's mines are causing or materially contributing to the biological ...

The D.C. Circuit denied an environmental group's petition for review challenging FERC's decision to issue a natural gas pipeline operator a certificate of public convenience and necessity to extend a natural gas pipeline in Maryland. The group argued that FERC's issuance of the conditional certifica...

The Third Circuit upheld EPA's TMDL plan for the Chesapeake Bay against challenges from farmer and home building groups. The TMDL—the largest ever developed by EPA—identifies necessary pollution reductions of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment across Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, V...

The Ninth Circuit granted in part and denied in part a petition challenging an NPDES permit authorizing oil and gas exploration facilities' discharge of 13 waste streams into the Beaufort Sea. The petition was filed by the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, which represents Alaska Native villages tha...

A district court dismissed environmental groups' CWA citizen suit against EPA for failing to respond in writing to their administrative petition seeking withdrawal of West Virginia's NPDES permit program, but held that the groups may go forward with their claim that the Agency's failure to timely re...