High Court Groundwater Ruling ‘Blurred’ Line Between CWA, Other Laws

The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling last year in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund that created a new “functional equivalent” test for when pollutants that travel through groundwater require a Clean Water Act (CWA) permit has created significant regulatory uncertainty on how the CWA interacts with other environmental laws, a legal expert says. The court’s 6-3 decision in Maui “blurred the line between the CWA and other environmental programs,” such as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act...