Clean Water Act Jurisdiction

Environmentalists Petition USFS For Wetland Protections In Light Of Sackett

Environmentalists are petitioning the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) -- the largest federal land management agency -- to bolster regulatory protections for fens, a peat-forming wetland that stores carbon and provides other ecological benefits, in light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Sackett v. EPA that narrowed the scope of protected waters and wetlands. In an Oct. 19 petition groups including WildEarth Guardians, Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), Waterkeeper Alliance, and others argued that the high court’s ruling and...

Oct. 19 Petition

Comment Letter


Environmentalists Petition Corps To Toughen CWA Permits For CO2 Pipelines

Over 350 environmental groups are petitioning the Army Corps of Engineers to revoke use of its streamlined Nationwide Permit (NWP) 58 for carbon dioxide pipelines, warning that their inclusion in the program is “arbitrary and capricious” and that it should instead require more-burdensome individual permits under the Clean Water Act (CWA) and Rivers and Harbors Act (RHA). The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), joined by more than 350 environmental, public health, faith-based, Indigenous, and community groups, filed a Nov. 6...

Citizen Suits Seek To Expand CWA Permitting As WOTUS Narrows Scope

Environmentalists are pursuing multiple citizen suits against EPA and other agencies seeking to expand the scope of Clean Water Act (CWA) permit requirements for currently unregulated sources and “discharges,” just as the Biden administration is narrowing the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) that are subject to the law’s scope. Such litigation is already driving EPA to craft a first-time general permit to govern the U.S. Forest Service’s (USFS) aerial spraying of fire retardants, while the Navy is...

OMB approves EPA’s tougher groundwater permitting guide

The White House has completed its review of EPA’s guidance that is expected to toughen a Trump-era measure implementing the Supreme Court’s 2020 decision requiring Clean Water Act (CWA) permits for some groundwater releases, a policy some say could be used to protect waters after the high court earlier this year narrowed the law’s scope. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) completed its review of the guidance, which implements the Supreme Court’s ruling in County of Maui v. Hawaii...

White House Threatens Veto Over House GOP’s ‘Deep’ FY24 Cuts To EPA

The White House is formally threatening to veto House Republicans’ draft fiscal year 2024 spending bill for EPA, the Interior Department and related agencies, arguing the legislation would spur “deep cuts” to climate-related programs and undermine EPA’s ability to carry out its mission. The Biden administration “strongly opposes the funding level for EPA, which, if enacted, would severely limit the agency’s ability to protect human health and the environment,” the White House writes in an Oct. 30 statement of administration...

Judge Denies Industry Intervention In North Dakota WOTUS Suit

A federal judge in North Dakota is rejecting a number of industry groups’ efforts to intervene in litigation challenging the Biden administration’s revised definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS), finding that their intervention in similar litigation in a federal court in Texas precludes them from entering into “duplicative litigation.” Judge Daniel Hovland of the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota filed an Oct. 23 order in the suit West Virginia, et al., v. EPA, et...

Republicans Expect High Court To Face New Suits Over WOTUS Definition

Senate Republicans are expecting further Supreme Court litigation over the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) as a result of what they charge is the Biden administration’s failure to adequately align its rulemakings with the court’s direction in Sackett v. EPA . “We’re going to be back at court, and this is going to be back up to the Supreme Court, the way the administration has rewritten this rule,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), ranking member of the...

Bill

Fact Sheet


Democrats Issue Broad ‘Protected Water Resources’ Definition In CWA Bill

House Democrats are issuing a broad definition for “protected water resources” to replace the term “navigable waters” in new legislation that will aim to restore federal protections to waters and wetlands excluded from the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) by the Supreme Court’s Sackett v. EPA decision. Reps. Rick Larsen (D-WA), ranking member on the Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee; Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA), ranking member of the T&I water resources and environment subcommittee; Rep. Don...

Environmentalists Say CWA 'Assumption' Rule Must Address Sackett Impacts

Environmental groups are warning that EPA's proposal to regulate how states and tribes assume authority over Clean Water Act (CWA) section 404 dredge-and-fill permits unlawfully fails to address how the Supreme Court's landmark Sackett v. EPA decision will affect the program -- an issue they say the public must be able to "meaningfully" comment on. “While EPA’s proposed Assumption Rule is nearly 200 pages and purports to offer substantive information on a host of programmatic changes, it is completely...

House Democrats Ready WOTUS Bill To Reverse ‘Damage’ Of Sackett Ruling

House Democrats are set to unveil new legislation that will aim to restore federal protections to waters and wetlands excluded from the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) by the Supreme Court’s Sackett v. EPA decision, as observers say Congress will eventually need to amend the Clean Water Act (CWA) to resolve ambiguities left by Sackett . Democrats on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee (T&I) issued an Oct. 16 media advisory that they would host an...

States seek time to amend WOTUS complaints

State plaintiffs challenging the Biden administration’s definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) are seeking court orders to withdraw their motions for summary judgment challenging the administration’s January rule so they can file amended complaints to account for the agencies’ subsequent rule aligning the definition with the Supreme Court’s Sackett decision. Parties in the suits State of Texas, et al., v. EPA, et al., and State of West Virginia, et al., v. EPA, et al. , filed...

Wetland Banks Seek EPA, Corps WOTUS Guidance, Fearing Stranded Credits

A wetland mitigation banking group is asking EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to provide guidance on the application of mitigation credits generated from non-jurisdictional waters in the wake of their recent rule that narrowed the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) to account for the Supreme Court’s Sackett decision, fearing some credits will now be stranded. The Ecological Restoration Business Association (ERBA) sent the agencies a September 2023 letter recommending that they “issue joint guidance...

EPA Vows To ‘Address Issues’ Implementing Broad 2015 WOTUS In 27 States

EPA is promising to resolve potential concerns as officials work to implement its pre-2015 “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) definition in more than two dozen states that have succeeded in blocking enforcement of the Biden administration’s 2023 rule, which includes a number of agricultural exemptions and has recently been significantly narrowed to comport with the Supreme Court’s Sackett decision. “The agencies are committed to addressing issues that may arise in implementing the pre-2015 regulatory regime, for example, through...

WOTUS Suits Poised To Resume As Narrow Definition Slated For Publication

Litigation over the Biden administration’s definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) is poised to resume in several district courts around the country as EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers are slated to publish in the Federal Register their “good cause” rule that narrowed the definition to comply with the Supreme Court’s Sackett ruling. EPA is slated to publish its “good cause” rule in the Sept. 8 Federal Register , which will mark the measure’s effective...

Critics Slam Biden’s Narrow New WOTUS Definition But May Not Seek Stay

Critics of the Biden administration’s new rule narrowing the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) are strongly condemning the measure, charging it fails to strictly comply with the Supreme Court’s Sackett ruling and violates procedural requirements, but key lawyers doubt they will seek a stay as any delay could harm regulated parties’ ability to operate under such a narrow rule. A lawyer representing regulated parties told Inside EPA that the agency’s amended WOTUS rule is much narrower...

Signaling Suit, Critics Charge Narrowed WOTUS Rule Exceeds CWA’s Bounds

The Biden administration’s just-issued “good cause” rule narrowing the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) faces near certain litigation from critics who charge it exceeds the agencies’ statutory authority under the Clean Water Act (CWA) and fails to comply with the Supreme Court’s direction in its Sackett ruling. “This revised rule does not adequately comply with Supreme Court precedent and with the limits on regulatory jurisdiction set forth in the Clean Water Act,” the Waters Advocacy Coalition...

States Grapple With Water Quality Protections After WOTUS Rule’s Release

BOULDER, CO -- Environmental regulators from Republican and Democratic states are expressing uncertainty over how to maintain adequate water and wetland protections following the Biden administration’s release of its final rule narrowing the federal definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) to align with the high court’s Sackett decision. During an Aug. 29 meeting at the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) meeting here, many state regulators raised concerns over what authorities will be available to them to...

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