By Jeryl L. Olson and Craig B. Simonsen
On September 11, 2013, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published its revised Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures (SPCC) Guidance for Regional Inspectors, which is directed not only to EPA inspectors, but also to owners and operators of facilities subject to the SPCC requirements. The Clean Water Act guidance is designed to “facilitate nationally…
Continue Reading EPA Publishes Revised Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures Guidance
By Philip L. Comella and Craig B. Simonsen
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a rule to require electronic reporting for documents that are currently filed as National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) paper-based reports. NPDES Electronic Reporting Rule, 78 FR 46006 (July 30, 2013).
The proposed Clean Water Act regulation would require permittees and regulators to use…
Continue Reading EPA Proposes Clean Water Act Electronic Reporting Rule
By Philip L. Comella and Craig B. Simonsen
The Supreme Court held today in Los Angeles County Flood Control Dist. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., No. 11-460 (January 8, 2013), that the flow of water from an improved portion of a navigable waterway into an unimproved portion of the same waterway does not qualify as a “discharge of…
Continue Reading NPDES Permit Not Required For Discharges to Different Parts of Same Waterway
By Andrew H. Perellis and Ilana R. Morady
On March 21, 2012, the United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision hugely impacting EPA’s enforcement authority under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The decision also has strong implications for EPA’s enforcement authority under the Clean Air Act (CAA).
The issue before the Court was whether two landowners could bring a…
Continue Reading Sackett v. EPA: Supreme Court Decides Unanimously In Favor Of Landowners
On February 16, 2012 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released three general permits for stormwater discharges from construction sites that will be in effect in states where EPA has primary authority over the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program: Idaho, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Territories and…
Continue Reading Stormwater Permits Update – Construction Sites
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has recently announced the filing of a consent decree to settle a Clean Water Act (CWA) fill and dredge case for the Army Corps of Engineers (COE). The complaint and consent decree were filed in USA v. Trinski and Hohan, No. 07-C-3600 (N.D. Ill). The notice of lodging was…
By Craig B. Simonsen and Jeryl L. Olson
The District Court of Idaho, in Idaho Conservation League v. Atlanta Gold Corporation, No. 11-CV-161 (January 9, 2012), recently granted summary judgment to allow standing in a citizen’s suit. In the case, Atlantic Gold Corporation (Defendant) held a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit which…
The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld, in United States v. Long, No. 09-1863 (6th Cir., December 2, 2011), the criminal conspiracy conviction of an industrial waste treatment facility plant manager. In April 2009 the District Court had sentenced the defendant to two concurrent prison terms of twenty-four months. The defendant appealed his…
By Andrew H. Perellis and Craig B. Simonsen
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and The Ryland Group Inc. (Ryland Homes), have filed a proposed consent decree to resolve Clean Water Act violations. The complaint, filed simultaneously with the proposed consent decree in the U.S. District Court in Charlotte, N.C., alleged violations that were discovered through site inspections and…
Continue Reading Homebuilder to Pay $625,000 Penalty for Construction Site Stormwater Violations
