A Minnesota appeals court held that the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) erred by not obtaining a federal permit for a construction project that affected a lake's water level. Hoffman Lake and West McDonald Lake are separated by a strip of land less than 10 feet wide. In 2015, a Hoff...

A district court held that the approval of a mining project in Montana violated NEPA, the CWA, and the National Forest Management Act. A mining company submitted a plan to the Forest Service and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to extract copper and silver from an ore vein that ...

The D.C. Circuit held that it lacks jurisdiction to hear a challenge to EPA's 2011 stormwater policy letters with respect to publicly owned water treatment facilities. In an 2013 decision, the Eighth Circuit vacated two EPA letters announcing new legislative rules for water treatment processes at mu...

A district court held that EPA violated a nondiscretionary duty under the CWA in not reviewing West Virginia's TMDL submissions. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) identified ionic toxicity as a cause of biological impairment in many streams throughout the state since a...

A district court denied EPA's motion to dismiss a claim by environmental groups that the Agency must review California's emergency waiver of federal water quality standards. In the wake of an historic drought, California's governor issued a Drought Emergency Proclamation and directed the State Water...

The Second Circuit overturned a district court ruling that a 2008 EPA rule exempting water transfers from NPDES permitting requirements was contrary to the requirements established by the CWA. Several environmental groups brought suit against the Agency, arguing that water transfers can&nb...

A district court upheld EPA’s refusal to determine whether new water quality standards were necessary to control nitrogen and phosphorus pollution in the mainstem of the Mississippi River and the Northern Gulf of Mexico. The case arose after EPA denied environmental groups' petition to make such a...

The Fourth Circuit upheld a district court's ruling that a coal company's NPDES permit did not shield it from liability under the CWA because it did not comply with the terms of the permit. In March 2013, three environmental groups filed an action against a West Virginia coal company, alleging that ...

A district court held that EPA did not fail to carry out non-discretionary duties under the CWA when it failed to notify certain industrial and commercial dischargers that they are required to obtain discharge permits under the Rhode Island Pollution Discharge Elimination System and to provide them ...