Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court released its highly anticipated opinion in Sackett v Environmental Protection Agency, delineating the appropriate standard to determine waters of the United States (WOTUS) under the federal Clean Water Act (CWA). The Supreme Court significantly reduced the reach of WOTUS from its earlier jurisprudence by holding that under the
On December 11, 2019, the California Supreme Court granted review of the Third District’s decision in County of Butte v. Department of Water Resources, dismissing a CEQA challenge to DWR’s relicensing application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for the Oroville Dam on the basis that the claim was preempted by federal law. The
On February 28, 2017, President Trump singed an executive order (“Order”) intended to roll back a rule promulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) (collectively “Agencies”) under the Clean Water Act (CWA), known as the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rule (“Rule”). Noting that EPA can
In Duarte Nursery, Inc. v. United States Army Corps of Engineers, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 76037, the Eastern District of California granted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (“Corps”) motion for summary judgment, finding that Duarte Nursery (“Nursery”) had violated the federal Clean Water Act (“Act”) by moving dirt around its property as part
In Surfrider Foundation v. California Regional Water Quality Control Board (Nov. 30, 2012) 2012 Cal. App. LEXIS 1223, the Fourth District Court of Appeal upheld the trial court’s denial of a petition for writ of mandamus challenging the California Regional Water Quality Control Board’s (Board) issuance of a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit
In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the lower courts’ ruling and held that Michael and Chantell Sackett, Petitioners, may bring a civil action under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) to challenge the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) issuance of an administrative compliance order for alleged violation of Section 309 of the Clean Water