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Happy 50th Anniversary, Federal Clean Water Act

Legal Planet

The Clean Water Act (CWA), one of the nation’s most important environmental laws, is 50 years old today. But 50 years after its creation, the Clean Water Act has proven substantially less effective in other areas. (credit: Amazon). Download as PDF.

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ABF Freight System Inc to Pay Civil Penalties for Clean Water Act Noncompliance

Environment + Energy Leader

The post ABF Freight System Inc to Pay Civil Penalties for Clean Water Act Noncompliance appeared first on Environment + Energy Leader. ABF will pay a civil penalty of $535,000, a portion of which will be directed to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, the state of Nevada, and the state of Maryland.

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The Clean Water Act at 50: Big Successes, More to Be Done

Yale E360

Sparked by the 1970s environmental movement, the Clean Water Act — which marks its 50 th anniversary this month — transformed America’s polluted rivers. The Delaware, once an industrial cesspool, is one of the success stories, but its urban stretches remain a work in progress. Read more on E360 ?.

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Discretion is the Better Part of Valor; Court Dismisses Clean Water Act Citizen Suit Challenging POTW’s Enforcement Discretion

Law and Environment

The scope of suits available to private citizens under the Clean Water Act is not unlimited. The post Discretion is the Better Part of Valor; Court Dismisses Clean Water Act Citizen Suit Challenging POTW’s Enforcement Discretion first appeared on Law and the Environment.

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U.C. Davis Law School to Host “Clean Water Act at 50” Conference

Legal Planet

Davis School of Law will convene a major, day-long conference to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the federal Clean Water Act. This conference will provide an important, interdisciplinary perspective on the Clean Water Act and water quality issues, thanks to CELPC’s conference planning partners: U.C.D’s

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Protected: Discretion is the Better Part of Valor; Court Dismisses Clean Water Act Citizens Suit Challenging POTW’s Enforcement Discretion

Law and Environment

To view it please enter your password below: Password: The post Protected: Discretion is the Better Part of Valor; Court Dismisses Clean Water Act Citizens Suit Challenging POTW’s Enforcement Discretion first appeared on Law and the Environment. This content is password protected.

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What Has the Clean Water Act Done for You?

Academy of Natural Sciences

Before the Clean Water Act of 1972, watersheds across the nation, including our own here in Philadelphia, were literal dumping grounds for industry, treatment plants and domestic households for generations. were unsanitary places before the Clean Water Act. Waterways across the U.S. Mike Servedio/ANS.

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Clean Water Act Citizen Suits Before Fourth Circuit

National Law Center

The post Clean Water Act Citizen Suits Before Fourth Circuit appeared first on National Agricultural Law Center. An important component of many environmental statutes is the ability for private citizens to initiate lawsuits to enforce the statute.

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Sometimes the Law Really Is Unambiguous — Clean Water Act Edition

Law and Environment

The post Sometimes the Law Really Is Unambiguous — Clean Water Act Edition first appeared on Law and the Environment. Unfortunately, given that Congress is patently incapable of doing its job, rewriting the CWA to fix this problem is still the responsibility of Congress. Good luck with that.

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Will EPA Ignore a Flagrant Violation of the Clean Water Act?

Acoel

On October 15 th a large mob engaged in a public and ritualistic violation of the Clean Water Act in Knoxville, Tennessee. There can be no doubt the mob’s actions violated the Clean Water Act. The post Will EPA Ignore a Flagrant Violation of the Clean Water Act? Home sweet home to me.

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The US Clean Water Act at 50

Environment, Law, and History

Davis School of Law will convene a conference to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the federal Clean Water Act on Friday, October 7th.

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Clean Water Act Essentials Third Edition

Arnold Porter

Arnold & Porter’s Environmental Practice Group is pleased to announce that the American Bar Association has published Clean Water Act Essentials. The four authors each brought extensive expertise and practical experience on the Clean Water Act (CWA) to the project.

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How Safe are U.S. Rivers 50 Years After the Clean Water Act?

Scientific American

rivers have dramatically improved in the half-century after the Clean Water Act, but climate change and other types of pollution still pose threats. Millions of miles of U.S.

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Discretion is the Better Part of Valor; Court Dismisses Clean Water Act Citizen Suit Challenging POTW’s Enforcement Discretion

Acoel

Posted on March 22, 2023 by Jonathan Ettinger The scope of suits available to private citizens under the Clean Water Act is not unlimited. The post Discretion is the Better Part of Valor; Court Dismisses Clean Water Act Citizen Suit Challenging POTW’s Enforcement Discretion appeared first on ACOEL.

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We Need 50 More Years of the Clean Water Act

Scientific American

The Clean Water Act, a bipartisan piece of legislation that has fundamentally changed water pollution in the U.S., is under attack when it should be strengthened instead.

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More on the Clean Water Act at 50

Environment, Law, and History

Legal Planet's Richard Frank posted today on the US Clean Water Act's 50th birthday. More on the history of the Clean Water Act here and here. But far more private enforcement actions are brought under the CWA than any other federal environmental statute.

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Backwards, forwards, square, and round. The battle over the reach of the Federal Clean Water Act continues.

Acoel

Beck wasn’t writing about the decades long war over the jurisdictional reach of the Federal Clean Water Act but the shoe certainly fits. The battle over the reach of the Federal Clean Water Act continues. So we can look forward to litigation over EPA’s new rule later this winter.

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Clean Water Act: EPA Needs to Better Assess and Disclose Quality of Compliance and Enforcement Data

Environmental News Bits

What GAO Found Since 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has modified one of its three national initiatives emphasizing compliance with the Clean Water Act and has discontinued two others (see fig.). Download the document.

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50 Years of the Clean Water Act and 50 more on the Horizon

Washington Nature

Environmental Protection Agency Assistant Administrator for Water, Radhika Fox, kicked off a tour celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act at the Aurora Bridge Bioswale in Seattle, WA. In the past 50 years, The Clean Water Act has enabled the U.S. In August, the U.S.

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Coalition For The Delaware River Watershed Celebrates 50th Anniversary Of Federal Clean Water Act

PA Environment Daily

On October 19, member of Congress Dwight Evans (D-Philadelphia) joined with environmental advocates and the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed (CDRW) at Bartram’s Garden to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the passage of the federal Clean Water Act.

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The Clean Water Act at 50: Big successes, more to be done

Environmental News Bits

Sparked by the 1970s environmental movement, the Clean Water Act — which marks its 50th anniversary this month — transformed America’s polluted rivers. Read the full story at e360. The Delaware, once an industrial cesspool, is one of the success stories, but its urban stretches remain a work in progress.

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Third Circuit Confirms 27-year-old Clean Water Act Consent Decree Still Enforceable

MGKF Law

Read More » Tags: Clean Water Act , Consent Decree , Enforcement , Third Circuit , Wetlands This decision is a good reminder that Consent Decrees have a long shelf life and that private parties should negotiate carefully to ensure both its short-term and long-term interests are protected.

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Clean Water Act Status of U.S. Waters, 2022

Environmental Law Reporter

Clean Water Act Status of U.S. Waters, 2022. Rachel Jean-Baptiste. Mon, 05/02/2022 - 08:45.

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New WOTUS Rule Restores Protections for Many Waters, but Uncertainty Persists Due to Continuing Litigation

Environment + Energy Leader

Army Corps of Engineers (collectively Agencies) announced the issuance of a final rule defining “waters of the United States” (WOTUS), a key term in the Clean Water Act (CWA). Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S.

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Rumsey Quoted in Law360 on Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Rule

Arnold Porter

” The article discusses the recent final rule broadening the Clean Water Act issued by the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers, and the implications this will have on the Supreme Court case, Sackett v.

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Which Wetlands to Protect? Supreme Court Will Soon Decide

Yale E360

An upcoming Supreme Court decision could settle decades of legal ambiguity about which wetlands should get federal protection under the Clean Water Act, bringing major changes to how these vital ecosystems are managed. loses about 60,000 acres of wetlands a year. Read more on E360 →.

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Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper Files Citizen Suit Against York County Landfill For Federal Clean Water Act Violations, Including PFAS Contamination

PA Environment Daily

The citizen suit cites Modern Landfill’s repeated violations of its water quality-based permit limits under the federal Clean Water Act, and unpermitted discharges of toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Modern Landfill continues to violate the Clean Water Act on a consistent basis.

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Federal Water Tap, February 6: EPA Vetoes Pebble Mine in Alaska

Circle of Blue

The EPA finalizes guidance for balancing sewage system improvements with financial burdens to residential water bills. Republicans take aim at the Biden administration’s definition of the scope of the Clean Water Act. Domestic production of salt , a water pollutant, remained steady in 2022.

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Taking Bets: The Supreme Court Is Just About to Split NPDES and Section 404 Permitting Under the Clean Water Act

Acoel

The Supreme Court is stepping once more into Clean Water Actwaters of the United States,” more popularly known as WOTUS. If you’re a Clean Water Act wonk, there may be a little voice in the back of your head yelling, “Theeeey’re baaack!” United States.

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Wetlands Are Imperiled—But the Clean Water Act Can Protect Them

NRDC

Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers need to use the full measure of their authority under the law to prevent wetland loss.

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With Friends Like These. Another Federal Appeals Court Takes Clean Water Act Enforcement Out of EPA’s Hands

Acoel

EPA ordered them to halt that construction and remove fill they had placed on the lot based on the Agency’s conclusion that the lot was a wetland within the jurisdiction of the federal Clean Water Act and the Sacketts did not have the permit necessary to fill it. The post With Friends Like These.

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Wetlands Are Imperiled—But the Clean Water Act Can Protect Them

NRDC

Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers need to use the full measure of their authority under the law to prevent wetland loss.

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Third Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Clean Water Act Citizen Suit On Inadequate Notice

MGKF Law

In order to bring a citizen suit in federal district court under the Clean Water Act, 33 USC § 1365(a)(1), the plaintiff must first give “notice of the alleged violation” to the alleged violator, the EPA, and the State at least 60 days prior to commencing suit. In Shark River Cleanup Coalition v. §135.3(a).

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EPA Fines Knouse Foods In Adams County $230,000 For 120 Violations Of Federal Clean Water Act

PA Environment Daily

will pay a $230,000 penalty to settle alleged federal Clean Water Act violations at its fruit processing facility in Peach Glen, Adams County. It’s crucial for us to hold polluters like this accountable to protect our water,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz. On December 14, the U.S.

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This isn’t an early April Fools joke — the US Forest Service is applying for a NPDES permit to keep fighting forest fires!

Acoel

Posted on March 28, 2023 by Jeff Porter Inside EPA is reporting that the United States Forest Service is going to work with EPA to obtain National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit coverage under the Federal Clean Water Act authorizing it to continue fighting forest fires from the air.

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What’s Up With Water — March 29, 2022

Circle of Blue

The report marks the 50 th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, a bedrock piece of environmental legislation. According to the report, the Clean Water Act has, thus far, failed to meet its goal of U.S. waters that are fishable and swimmable.

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2023 WOTUS Rule Enjoined in Texas and Idaho (Or “Here We Go Again”)

Acoel

The court also acknowledged that the Supreme Court is currently considering the scope of jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act. In the underlying cases, the plaintiffs challenged the 2023 WOTUS rule on statutory and constitutional grounds.

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SCOTUS Hears a Case with Broad Implications for the Clean Water Act

Scientific American

As the new term begins, the Supreme Court debates what wetlands should be protected under one of the EPA’s most successful and controversial efforts.

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Ninth Circuit Holds Sovereign Immunity Protects Tribe From Suit Under the Clean Water Act

MGKF Law

On June 23, 2021, the Ninth Circuit, in directing the lower court to dismiss a citizen’s suit claim under the Clean Water Act (“CWA”), held that the CWA did not abrogate tribal sovereign immunity. This Blog Post was authored by Omar Khodor, a summer associate. Deschutes River All. Portland Gen.

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The Supreme Court Looks for a Middle Ground to Determine When Clean Water Act Permit is Required for Discharges to Groundwater

The Energy Law Blog

. , where the Court held that, in limited circumstances, a party discharging pollutants into groundwater that ultimately end up in navigable waters will need a permit under the Clean Water Act. 33 U.S.C. §§ 1311(a), 1362(12)(A); see also 33 U.S.C. 1342 (NPDES provisions).

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UPDATE: Ohio Waives Clean Water Act 401 Certification for 16 Nationwide Permits

Vorys Law

Army Corps of Engineers recently determined that Ohio waived its right to issue a water quality certification (WQC) under section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) for the 16 new Nationwide Permits (NWPs) that went into effect on March 15, 2021.

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In A Year of Water Quality Reckoning, National Imperative is Impeded

Circle of Blue

Fifty years ago the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement was signed and the Clean Water Act was enacted to clear pollution from the region’s waters. clean water statute, though, give farmers and their wastes special treatment. A Weakened National Imperative. Both the bi-national agreement and the U.S.

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Road Salt, A Stealthy Pollutant, Is Damaging Michigan Waters

Circle of Blue

This is the first story in a series of reports from the Great Lakes News Collaborative that will investigate contemporary water pollution challenges in the Great Lakes region. You can think of chloride as a permanent pollutant in the water,” said Christe Alwin of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.