Water

Regulatory and legislative disputes over the clean water and safe drinking water acts have major implications for dischargers, utilities and others, and our Water section features the latest news from EPA, the courts and Congress.

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Regulatory and legislative disputes over the clean water and safe drinking water acts have major implications for dischargers, utilities and others, and our Water section features the latest news from EPA, the courts and Congress.

States, Industry Split On DOJ Bid To Stay Supreme Court CWA Rule Case

Opponents of the Obama-era Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction rule are split over the Trump administration's bid to delay Supreme Court litigation over the proper court venue for suits over the rule while it crafts a replacement rule, with states supporting the request but groups representing major industries saying the case should go forward. The Supreme Court could decide as soon as March 31 whether to grant the Department of Justice's (DOJ) request to hold the venue dispute suit, National...

Industry Groups' Brief Opposing Stay

State Rule Opponents' Brief Supporting Stay

State Rule Supporters' Brief Opposing Stay


EPA sets guidelines for Gold King cost reimbursement

EPA has released new guidelines for state, local and tribal governments to seek reimbursement for their costs of responding to the 2015 Gold King Mine wastewater spill, acting on Congress' move to loosen requirements for those payments, though the agency is warning parties that they may need to act through cooperative agreements rather than on their own. EPA posted the guidelines on its website March 16, setting out procedures governments affected by the Gold King spill should follow to apply...

Environmentalists' 9th Circuit Petition For Review

Environmentalists' 9th Circuit Motion To Stay

Environmentalists' 4th Circuit Petition For Review

Environmentalists' Notice Of Intent To Sue EPA In District Court


1996 CWA Consent Decree

EPA's Motion To Enforce Consent Decree

Defendants' Response To Enforcement Motion

EPA Reply To Response

Complaint In 2017 Enforcement Action



Trump 'Two-For-One' Deregulatory Order Halts EPA's Dental Amalgam Rule

President Donald Trump's executive order (EO) requiring agencies to “identify” two existing rules to withdraw for every new “major” rule they issue has halted implementation of EPA's Clean Water Act (CWA) rule on dental amalgam, a rule signed in the final hours of the Obama administration that is providing an early test of how agencies comply with the order. Speaking at the National Water Policy Fly-In March 21 in Washington, D.C., EPA's Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for Water Benita...

EPA Launches Early Talks With States On Revising CWA Jurisdiction Rule

A top EPA water official says the agency has already begun informal talks with states and other stakeholders to gather input on the Trump administration's revisions to the Obama-era Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction rule, and that officials have been told to work “quickly” to develop a proposal, though there is no deadline for that effort. Speaking to Inside EPA March 21, Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for Water Benita Best-Wong said outreach on a new CWA jurisdiction policy...

Flint class-action defendants seek Supreme Court review

Engineering companies facing a class-action lawsuit over lead contamination in the Flint, MI, drinking water system are asking the Supreme Court to overturn a federal appeals court ruling that sent the case to the state judiciary, hoping to avoid litigating the suit in Michigan courts after other defendants described the venue as “hostile.” Defendants in Jennifer Mason, et al. v. Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, et al. , filed a petition for certiorari with the high court on March 9. They...

Iowa Utility Loses Novel Suit Seeking CWA Permits For Drainage Districts

A federal district court judge in Iowa has dismissed a novel suit brought by a local drinking water treatment plant that sought Clean Water Act (CWA) discharge permits for local agricultural drainage districts to address excess nitrate pollution. A source close to the utility's challenge warns that officials will now be watching closely to see how the drainage districts work with lawmakers to develop a nutrient reduction strategy. “We'll be watching very carefully to see tangible results from the nutrient...

Disappointed With Budget, Officials Urge Congress To Boost EPA Water Funds

The Trump administration's budget request for fiscal year 2018 proposes a $4 million increase for EPA's water infrastructure programs, the only programs slated for an increase, but utility groups and other officials say the plan still falls far short of what is needed and they are urging appropriators to significantly increase the funds. One water industry source says some groups are pressing appropriators to double FY 16 state revolving loan fund (SRF) levels in the FY18 budget, hoping to eventually...

DOJ seeks D.C. Circuit review of New Hampshire MS4 permit

The Justice Department is seeking to transfer litigation brought by a New England environmental group over an EPA-issued general permit for municipal stormwater in New Hampshire from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit to the District of Columbia Circuit, arguing it would more efficient to move the case to the court hearing other similar challenges. “EPA believes that for the convenience of the parties and in the interest of justice, venue most appropriately lies in the D.C...

DOJ Motion

CLF Response

DOJ Reply


Indiana Comments

Illinois Comments

Michigan Comments

Ohio Comments

New York Comments



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