A district court denied EPA's motion to dismiss a lawsuit concerning its duty to update its National Contingency Plan (NCP) for addressing oil and hazardous substance contamination. Environmental groups argued that the current NCP is dangerous because it continues to permit the use of chemical dispe...
Section 401 certification and permit conditioning under the Clean Water Act is one of the most significant tools for states to influence federally permitted activities involving discharges into navigable waters. However, states are required to set conditions within one year or they forgo their ability to do so. In practice, the one-year review is difficult for states to meet and led to a common practice known as “withdraw and resubmit” in which states could reset the clock. But in Hoopa Valley Tribe v. Federal Energy Regulatory Comm’n, the D.C.
The Third Circuit affirmed a district court ruling that the U.S. government was not liable to a coatings company for cleanup costs at a chromite ore processing plant with which it was involved during World War I and World War II. The district court concluded the government was not subject to operato...
A district court dismissed a challenge to a pipeline company's failure to seek a CWA permit for construction of a natural gas pipeline in Pennsylvania. A conservation group argued the company violated the CWA by failing to obtain an NPDES permit for its stormwater discharges after construction began...
A district court dismissed a challenge to EPA's decision to withdraw proposed restrictions pursuant to CWA §404(c) for the proposed Pebble Mine in Southwest Alaska. Nonprofit groups argued the decision was arbitrary and capricious, in violation of the APA. EPA argued the exercise of its authority u...
The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed in part and vacated in part the Montana high court's ruling in a lawsuit concerning cleanup actions across a 300-square-mile Superfund site in Butte. Landowners whose properties are located within the site brought trespass, nuisance, and strict liability claims under ...
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...
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...
A district court denied summary judgment to an environmental group challenging the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers' issuance of a CWA §404 permit for development of an additional portion of an existing residential subdivision in Virginia Beach. The group argued the issuance was arbitrary and capricious...