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On July 13, 2020, the EPA published its final rule “to update and clarify the substantive and procedural requirements for water quality certification under Clean Water Act (CWA or the Act) section 401.”
Earlier this month, the EPA finalized its “Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Rule,” which aims to increase the transparency and efficiency of the Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 401 water quality certification process to promote the timely review of infrastructure projects.
By a tally of 6 to 3, the U.S. Supreme Court found that under certain circumstances, a discharge of pollution from a point source that travels in groundwater before entering a navigable water subjects the discharger to National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting requirements under the Clean Water Act (CWA).
According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Navigable Waters Rule (NWR), issued by the Corps and the EPA, will effectively remove 51% of the Corps’s mapped wetlands from federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act (CWA). Much of that eliminated inventory was subject to federal protection under the Obama administration’s 2015 Clean Water […]
Attempts by the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin to invalidate a Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404 (dredge and fill) permit the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) granted Aquila Resources Inc. for a mining project on a portion of the Menominee River were unsuccessful in both a federal district court and the U.S. Court […]
Tributary is a key term in the EPA/Army Corps of Engineers’ recent Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule, just as it was in the 2015 WOTUS rule the newer rule replaced.
Section 1313 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) directs that states must develop total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for water bodies that are impaired by pollutants or conditions (e.g., temperature or turbidity). The state submits these TMDLs to the EPA for approval. If the Agency approves the state’s submission, the TMDL takes effect. If the […]
In February 2019, the EPA’s assistant administrator for water issued a memo updating the Agency’s water quality trading policy “to promote market-based mechanisms.” The memo includes six principles intended to clarify aspects of the federal water quality trading program, provide tools and incentives to states and local governments to implement trading programs, and promote increased […]
Effective 60 days after its publication in the Federal Register, the EPA/Army Corps of Engineers’ (EPA/Corps) final rule repealing the Obama administration’s 2015 Clean Water Rule formally concludes Step 1, the first of two steps to ensure that the states exercise majority control over their water resources. The final rule removes the complex definition of […]
In a recent “final action”, the EPA announced that it will not “at this time” promulgate new regulations to prevent spills of hazardous substances (HSs) under Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 311.