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CWA Series: Do Discharges to Groundwater Require a Permit? EPA just changed its mind.
How do states regulate non-federal wetlands?
Clean Water Act Series: SCOTUS Agrees to Grant Certiorari on Indirect Discharge Question
On February 19, 2019, the Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments regarding “Whether the CWA [Clean Water Act] requires a permit when pollutants originate from a point source but are conveyed to navigable waters by a nonpoint source, such as groundwater” following a circuit split between the Fourth, Sixth, and Ninth Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. Read more about this case history and the legal arguments on the Emerging Energy Insights blog:
https://www.emergingenergyinsights.com/2019/02/cwa-series-scotus-grant-cert-discharge-question/…
CWA Series: SCOTUS Agrees to Grant Certiorari on Indirect Discharge Question
CWA Series: SCOTUS Agrees to Grant Certiorari on Indirect Discharge Question
Under the CWA, the discharge of pollutants, meaning the “addition of any pollutant to navigable waters from any point source,” without a permit is prohibited. Previously, we reported on the circuit split (Part 1) between the Fourth, Sixth, and Ninth Federal Circuit Court of Appeals regarding whether indirect discharges to WOTUS through groundwater required a CWA permit.…
EPA Proposes National Compliance Initiatives
Update on Wisconsin Indian Tribe’s Lawsuit Against Federal Government
U.S. Supreme Court Sends Waters of the US Rule to District Courts; Nationwide Stay in Question
On January 22, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that challenges to the 2015 Waters of the United States Rule (the “WOTUS Rule” or “Rule”) belong in district court rather than the appellate court. The WOTUS Rule was developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) to clarify which waters and wetlands fall under federal jurisdiction. Numerous parties challenged the Rule in both federal district courts and circuit…
Wisconsin Indian Tribe Sues Federal Government to Get Involved in Permitting of Mine in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin has sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) over the proposed Aquila Resources Back Forty Mine, arguing that EPA and Corps have failed to take responsibility for reviewing wetland permits for the project. The lawsuit was expected since the Tribe filed a notice of intent to sue in November 2017.
Aquila Resources has proposed an open pit mine, deemed the “Back Forty Mine,”…