On March 14, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) which, if finalized, would set enforceable limits, known as Maximum Contaminant
Continue Reading PFAS in Drinking Water: EPA Proposes Historic New Regulation
Building on the Department of the Interior’s August 2022 announcement addressing the ongoing “megadrought” crisis in the Western United States, and October 2022 announcement that provided new “drought resilience” and
Continue Reading U.S. Interior Department Initiates Actions to Protect Colorado River System, Reduce Deliveries
In light of the “worsening drought crises” and “critically low reservoir conditions” in the Western United States, on Aug. 16, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Interior (“Interior”) announced a
Continue Reading Interior Department Determines ‘Tier 2 Shortage Conditions’ on Colorado River Requiring Additional Water Delivery Cuts, Other Actions in 2023
The Massachusetts Appeals Court (the intermediate appellate court) has decided two cases this month addressing when a local conservation commission can impose conditions on development that affects wetlands in addition
Continue Reading Local Preemption and Wetlands in Massachusetts
Massachusetts’ highest court decided a water rights case on March 11. Town of Concord v. Water Dep’t of Littleton, SJC-12947 (Mass. Mar. 11, 2021). These things don’t happen very
Continue Reading Massachusetts Water Rights Act in the Supreme Judicial Court
On July 27, 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a policy memorandum designed to stay the federal government’s hand in enforcing the Clean Water Act where states have
Continue Reading New DOJ Guidance Seeks to Limit Federal Enforcement under the Clean Water Act
Rejecting the Trump administration’s novel 2019 interpretation that the Clean Water Act never requires permits for pollutant discharges to groundwater, the United States Supreme Court handed down, on April 23,
Continue Reading Supreme Court: Pollutants Reaching Navigable Waters Through Groundwater May Require Permit Under Clean Water Act
On Dec. 11, the House of Representatives passed S. 1790, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) conference report. The Senate followed suit on Dec. 17, bringing an end
Continue Reading Congress Takes Initial Steps to Address PFAS in the National Defense Authorization Act Conference Report
On October 9, 2019, Mexico’s Deputy Ministry of Revenue (Subsecretaría de Ingresos) of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público,
Continue Reading Mexico’s National Water Law – The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit Authorizes the Payment of Government Fees to Avoid Reduction or Cancellation of Authorized Water Volumes
On Sept. 12, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Army followed through on an early Trump administration promise to repeal a 2015 jurisdictional rule defining the scope of the government’s authority under the Clean Water Act. See Definition of “Waters of the United States”—Recodification of Pre-Existing Rules (pre-publication version).
Dubbed the “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule, the Obama-era regulation spawned a tide of litigation, in federal trial and appellate courts, challenging the WOTUS rule as an unlawful attempt by the EPA and the Corps of Engineers to increase the numbers and kinds of waters subject to permitting requirements. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately weighed in, saying that challenges to the WOTUS rule belong in the federal districts courts, not the U.S. courts of appeals. National Association of Manufacturers v. Department of Defense, __ U.S. __, 138 S.Ct. 617 (2018).
Continue Reading Government Repeals Obama-Era Waters of the U.S. Rule: Major Supreme Court Decision to Come, but ‘Regulatory Patchwork’ Remains