Water

Subscribe to Water via RSS

Today the White House is hosting a summit on sustainable water from 9 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. The event coincides with “World Water Day.” The summit is intended to raise awareness of water’s national importance, and to highlight commitments and announcements made to ensure future water sustainability. Nearly 200 experts…

In a significant win affirming the ongoing validity of long-issued permits, United States District Judge Sam A. Lindsay of the Northern District of Texas dismissed all of the claims brought by two groups challenging the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued to Georgia-Pacific LLC’s Crossett, Arkansas, paper mill. The Court’s opinion dismissing the case in full was issued January 19, 2016, and is available here.

The basis of an effective Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) program remains the strength of its management system and how thoroughly it is integrated into business practices. This year, Troutman Sanders is thrilled to be the presenting sponsor at the North Carolina Chamber Environmental Compliance Conference, which takes place next Thursday, January 28th in Durham, North Carolina. This conference is designed to provide employers with an in-depth understanding of current critical issues and practices related to the effective implementation of EHS programs as well as tools to navigate the regulatory landscape. Attendees will join expert panelists and top North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) officials in proactive discussions on pressing regulatory issues, legislation, policy decisions, and other initiatives on water, waste, air and natural resources that affect business. This conference provides NC DEQ officials with valuable feedback from the regulated community while providing businesses with an excellent forum on emerging environmental trends and issues.

EPA recently announced it is centralizing its violation self-disclosure process in a new eDisclosure portal.  Through the portal, registered users will be able to disclose routine violation and their corrections to EPA.  The portal is based on EPA’s “Incentives for Self-Policing: Discovery, Disclosure, Correction and Prevention of Violations” policy issued in 2000 to encourage voluntary discovery, prompt disclosure and correction of violations by incentivizing the regulated community with potential penalty reductions for self-reporting.

The Sixth Circuit today issued an order staying the applicability of the EPA and Army Corps’ recently promulgated Clean Water Rule. The stay applies nationwide.

A coalition of private parties, industry groups, and more than 30 states challenged the Rule asserting that it unlawfully expanded the jurisdictional reach of the Clean Water Act. A coalition of state petitioners asked the Court to enter a stay with the Court today concluding that a stay was appropriate because, among other things, there was a likelihood that the petitioners would succeed on the merits.

On August 21, 2015, EPA issued a final rule revising its regulations governing the development, review and approval of state water quality standards (“WQS”) (40 CFR Part 131). The revisions were prompted by requests from the states for increased clarity in the existing rule, as well as the need for greater flexibility.  The rule includes changes that expand EPA’s authority to review state WQS in several ways.

On May 27, 2015, after many years of regulatory uncertainty, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and the U.S. Army Corps (“Corps”) released a final rule defining the scope of “Waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act. The Rule aims to “clarify” the reach of the federal government’s authority under the Clean Water Act, including every section and program under the Act.  Its implications are far reaching to industry, home builders, farmers, ranchers, and other landowners.

Doug Henderson, Fitzgerald Veira, and Brooks Smith’s article, The Clean Water Act Permit Shield—Recent Battles, appeared in the ABA’s environmental journal, Natural Resources & Environment.   Surveying one of the most important defenses under the Clean Water Act, the “permit shield” defense, the article takes a critical…