Tag Archives: “Conservation Law Foundation v. EPA”

Criticizing WOTUS Is Like Shooting Fish in a Barrel

On Wednesday, EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers announced that they plan to revise the definition of “Waters of the United States”.  Simultaneously, DOJ moved to remand the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, in a challenge to the Trump-era rule brought by the Conservation Law Foundation.  Can you say “déjà vu all over again”?

This is such a target-rich environment that I almost don’t know where to begin – but I’ll try.… More

EPA’s Charles River Two-Step

charles15At least since the Standells’ Dirty Water in 1966, cleaning up the Charles River has been on the mind of Bostonians (and Cantabrigians and those farther upriver).  Notwithstanding significant recent progress, there remains work to do.  The questions are, as always, how much and who pays?  Is this largely a municipal infrastructure problem?  Is it just a matter of better implementation of some simple best management practices? … More

Can EPA Keep Winning By Losing? Another Court Remands An EPA Rule Without Vacatur

Last Wednesday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals remanded EPA’s rule exempting stationary engines that operate up to 50 hours per year to supply non-emergency service to power providers from the EPA NESHAP for reciprocating internal combustion engines.  Why is that news?

Because, once more, a court has acceded to EPA’s request that it remand without vacatur, leaving the rule in place.  We’re now seeing something of a trend towards remand without vacatur. … More

Standing Matters, TMDL Version

Last week, in Conservation Law Foundation v. EPA, Judge Mark Wolf ruled that CLF did not have standing to challenge EPA’s approval of total maximum daily loads promulgated for certain waters in and around Cape Cod.  Given the increasing number of citizen suits involving TMDL promulgation, the decision is important.

CLF asserted two claims.  First, it alleged that EPA wrongly classified certain sources,… More