Under the Clean Water Act and its implementing regulations, certain “discharges composed entirely of storm water,” including stormwater discharges associated with specified small construction activities and oil and gas and mining operations, do not require NPDES permits. In order to qualify … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Clean Water Act
District Court exposes vulnerability in Clean Water Act permit shield
Last week, in Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, et al. v A&G Coal Corp., No 2:12CV00009 (W.D. Va.), the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia held that the Clean Water Act’s permit shield does not protect a NPDES … Continue reading
In efforts to curb pollution from agricultural operations, is RCRA the new Clean Water Act?
Agriculture is a major source of pollution for a number of our nation’s impaired waters, including the Chesapeake Bay. For that reason, government agencies and environmental organizations have targeted agricultural operations as part of their clean water enforcement initiatives. However, … Continue reading
Moving Mountains, Part 2: Fourth Circuit greenlights mountaintop removal mining project
Earlier this month, I reported on a blow that the D.C. Circuit dealt mountaintop removal mining in Mingo Logan Coal Co. v. EPA, No. 12-5150 (D.C. Cir.). Last week, the Fourth Circuit helped the industry get back up on its … Continue reading
No tardy slips: First Circuit declines to compel EPA to act on long-pending NPDES permit renewal applications
In a two-page judgment entered earlier this month whose brevity belies its potential significance, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit denied a petition for a writ of mandamus submitted by environmental groups seeking to compel EPA to take … Continue reading
Slick attempts to circumvent statute of limitations fail to gain traction with D.C. district court in oil dispersants case
Last week, in Alaska Cmty. Action on Toxics, et al. v. EPA, Civ. A. No. 12-1299 (D.D.C., May 7, 2013), the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed claims by environmental groups challenging EPA’s failure to identify the … Continue reading
Moving mountains: D.C. Circuit deals a blow to mountaintop removal mining
A little over a year ago, after the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia concluded that EPA had exceeded its statutory authority when it invoked section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act to withdraw the specifications of certain … Continue reading
Ninth Circuit touches novel CWA and RCRA claims with a forty-foot pole
Last month, an environmental organization testing the bounds of the reach of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) ran into a brick wall wooden pole when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the … Continue reading
U.S. Supreme Court defers to EPA in ruling stormwater discharges from logging roads exempt from Clean Water Act permitting requirements
Last week, in Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center, No. 11-338 (U.S., Mar. 20, 2013), the United States Supreme Court held that discharges of channeled stormwater runoff from logging roads are exempt from NPDES permitting requirements under Clean Water Act … Continue reading
Go directly to Circuit Court. Do not pass the EHB. (But do collect permits from DEP.)
Earlier this month, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania held that Section 717b(d) of the Natural Gas Act (NGA), 15 U.S.C. § 717b(d), authorizes states to continue issuing permits under the federal Clean Water Act … Continue reading