On January 23, 2020, the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR) which redefines “waters of the United States” (WOTUS). This new rule adopts a more limited definition of WOTUS that are subject to the Clean Water Act. The NWPR defines WOTUS to include only four categories…
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A federal district court in Ohio has endorsed the “constructive submission” doctrine as a way to require the EPA to set standards for polluted bodies of water when states neglect or refuse to set those standards. Environmental Law & Policy Center v. EPA, Docket No. 3:19-cv-00295 (November 13, 2019, N.D. Ohio). The Clean Water Act…
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The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts has ruled pollution from a Cape Cod resort that travels through groundwater into the Atlantic Ocean is not subject to Clean Water Act permitting requirements. Conservation Law Foundation v. Longwood Venues & Destinations, Inc., No. 1:18-cv-11821 (November 26, 2019, D. Mass.). The Complaint alleges treated…
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The United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments on November 6, 2019, in Hawai’i Wildlife Fund v. County of Maui, a groundwater case that challenges the scope of the Clean Water Act (“CWA”). 831 F.3d 754 (9th Cir. 2018). The Ninth Circuit previously held that where a point source discharge to groundwater is fairly traceable…
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The Maui County Council has voted to settle a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Clean Water Act (“CWA”) case scheduled for oral argument before the United States Supreme Court on November 6, 2019. County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund et al., Case No. 18-260. The case was one of three pending before the…
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The Eleventh Circuit has determined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not have to withdraw from a partnership with Alabama that allows the state to issue permits under the Clean Water Act (CWA), even though environmental groups have claimed Alabama’s program has failed to comply with the federal law’s requirements over the years. Cahaba…
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A United States District Court Judge for the Northern District of California has reduced an $75 million punitive damages award against Monsanto Company to $20 million in the nation’s first federally-tried Roundup case. Hardeman v. Monsanto, 3:16-cv-00525 (N.D. Cal., July 15, 2019). In reducing the award, the Court stated Monsanto deserves to be punished, but…
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The D.C. Circuit has upheld an EPA rule that classifies as “recycled” certain hazardous material sent to a third-party reclamation facility and thus exempt from the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations governing discarded waste. California Communities Against Toxics, et al., v. EPA, et al., No. 18-1163 (D.C. Cir., July 2, 2019). In this…
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The U.S. Supreme Court has granted a petition for writ of certiorari to review questions regarding clean-up activities required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (“CERCLA”). Atlantic Richfield Co. v. Christian, No. 17-1498. In the suit, Atlantic Richfield seeks to overturn a decision by the…
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A California jury has awarded a $2.055 billion verdict in favor of a California couple, finding Monsanto’s product Roundup likely caused the couple’s cancer. Pilliod v. Monsanto Co., Case No. RG-1786272 (Cal. Super. Ct., Alameda Division). This is Bayer AG’s third consecutive Roundup trial loss since mid-2018 in cases involving claims the product caused cancer….
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