article thumbnail

U.S. Supreme Court limits federal jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act

Vorys Law

In a highly anticipated opinion, the United States Supreme Court narrowed the scope of waters and wetlands considered to be "waters of the United States" ("WOTUS") and, therefore, subject to jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act. In Sackett v. 2023) ( citing Rapanos v.

article thumbnail

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. Nevertheless, and with the possible exception of the Clean Air Act, no law enacted as part of the outpouring of federal environmental legislation in the 1970’s has proven more successful and transformational than the CWA.

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Supreme Court Issues Decision Sharply Limiting Clean Water Act Jurisdiction over Wetlands

E2 Law Blog

The wetlands at issue are separated by a 30-foot road from an unnamed tributary that feeds into a non-navigable creek that feeds into Priest Lake, a navigable but wholly intrastate water body. Thus began nearly two decades of litigation, culminating in the Supreme Court’s May 25, 2023 decision in Sackett v. EPA , 598 U.S. at (slip op.

article thumbnail

What’s a Major Question? Opinions differ.

Legal Planet

Applying Clean Water Act to shrimp trawlers’ dumping of bycatch back in the ocean. Issuance of license to private party to operate a temporary, away-from-reactor, storage facility for nuclear waste. NRC , 2023 WL 5498874 (5 th Cir. NC Coastal Fisheries Reform Group v. Gason , LLC, 76 F. 4 th 291 (4 th Cir.

article thumbnail

Upstream Action to Protect Our Ocean and Coasts

Ocean Conservancy

As a person immersed in this interior, “fresh coast” worldview, I hadn’t spent much time considering how our practices might affect the ocean thousands of miles away. Love ocean content? Thanks for signing up for Ocean Conservancy emails. In short, all water is connected. Enter your email and never miss an update.

Ocean 46
article thumbnail

Supreme Court Granted Certiorari to a Clean Water Act Case: Hawai‘i Wildlife Fund v. County of Maui

Vermont Law

The treated wastewater effluent that the County of Maui was injecting into its wells was making its way through the groundwater and into the ocean. The court held that the county had violated the CWA by indirectly discharging into the ocean without a NPDES permit. Wells are among the CWA’s list of point source examples. County of Maui.

article thumbnail

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. This effluent then travels approximately a half mile, through groundwater, to the Pacific Ocean. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, et al.