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Maui, Hawaii v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund
The U.S. Supreme Court held, 6-3, that the "functional equivalent of a direct discharge" of pollutants requires a CWA permit, and remanded for consideration of whether a discharge of pollutants into groundwater that later discharged into the Pacific Ocean meets this standard. Environmental groups ar...
Compliance Models for Off-Grid Wastewater Treatment and Reuse
Throughout the world, people struggle to gain access to stable sources of clean water. While there are increasingly innovative solutions being developed, many communities simply do not have access to efficient, centralized wastewater management systems, and as a result, face difficulty finding reliable sources of water for daily use. There is a great need to implement novel systems that can fill the gap, especially for isolated or “off-grid” communities.
Friends of the Capital Crescent Trail v. United States Army Corps of Engineers
A district court upheld a CWA §404 permit the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers granted to authorize the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) to discharge dredge-and-fill materials into nearby waters during construction of a light rail project, known as the Purple Line project, that would connect subur...
Natural Resources Defense Council v. Wheeler
The D.C. Circuit vacated a 2018 EPA rule that instituted a complete vacatur of its 2015 rule blocking the use of hydrofluorocarbons as replacements for ozone-depleting substances. An environmental group argued the 2018 rule was invalid because it was a legislative rule and was thus improperly promul...
Sierra Club v. Environmental Protection Agency
The D.C. Circuit dismissed a petition to review EPA's Guidance on Significant Impact Levels (SILs) for Ozone and Fine Particles in the Prevention of Significant Deterioration Permitting Program, which sets numerical SILs that can be used by companies applying for PSD permits. An environmental group ...
Wheelabrator Baltimore, L.P. v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore
A district court granted two Baltimore solid waste incineration facilities' partial motion for summary judgment in a challenge to the Baltimore Clean Air Act (BCAA). The facilities argued the BCAA was "conflict preempted" by Maryland law because it prohibited solid waste incinerators from operating ...
Federalism's Blind Spots: The Crisis of Small Drinking Water Systems
Drinking water contamination in Flint, Michigan, has garnered much-needed nationwide attention, but such contamination is neither isolated, nor a primarily urban problem. A hidden water crisis is straining thousands of smaller communities that share Flint’s risk factors—shrinking populations, social marginalization, and deficient funds. This Article posits that the Safe Drinking Water Act’s increasingly decentralized monitoring and funding scheme has drained communities of the capacity to deliver safe water.