Law Commons^™

National Association Of Manufacturers V. Department Of Defense, Summer L. Carmack

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In an attempt to provide consistency to the interpretation and application of the statutory phrase “waters of the United States,” as used in the Clean Water Act, the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers together passed the WOTUS Rule. Unfortunately, the Rule has created more confusion than clarity, resulting in a number of lawsuits challenging substantive portions of the Rule’s language. National Association of Manufacturers v. Department of Defense did not address those substantive challenges, but instead determined whether those claims challenging the Rule must be filed in federal district courts or federal courts of appeals. In its decision, the …

Fish And Federalism: How The Asian Carp Litigation Highlights A Decifiency In The Federal Common Law Displacement Analysis, Molly M. Watters

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

In response to the growing threat posed by the progress of Asian carp up the Mississippi River toward the Great Lakes, and with increased frustration with the federal response to the imminent problem, in 2010, five Great Lakes states sued the Army Corps of Engineers and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago to force a more desirable and potentially more effective strategy to prevent the Asian carp from infiltrating the Great Lakes: closing the Chicago locks. This Note examines the federal common law displacement analysis through the lens of the Asian carp litigation. Both the Federal District Court …

Judicial Limitation Of The Epa's Oversight Authority In Clean Water Act Permitting Of Mountaintop Mining Valley Fills , Christopher D. Eaton

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Mountaintop removal mining operations in the Appalachian region have expanded significantly in recent decades. The practice decimates the mountain ecosystems by leveling forests, filling headwater streams, and producing significant runoff of heavy metals, sediment, and other pollutants that impair the aquatic environment of entire watersheds. Yet environmental permitting of the practice is relatively limited. A recent trend in litigation aimed at halting mining operations has involved challenging permits that authorize the discharge of mining overburden into headwater streams pursuant to the Clean Water Act (CWA). The Army Corps of Engineers has assumed jurisdiction over such discharges under section 404 of …

From "Navigable Waters" To "Constitutional Waters": The Future Of Federal Wetlands Regulation, Mark Squillace

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Wetlands regulation in the United States has a tumultuous history. The early European settlers viewed wetlands as obstacles to development, and they drained and filled wetlands and swamps at an astounding rate, often with government support, straight through the middle of the twentieth century. As evidence of the ecological significance of wetlands emerged over the last several decades, programs to protect and restore wetlands became prominent. Most notable among these is the permitting program under section 404 of the Clean Water Act. That provision prohibits dredging or filling of "navigable waters, " defined by law to mean "waters of the …

The Native American Graves Protection And Repatriation Act: The Death Knell For Scientific Study?, Renee M. Kosslak

American Indian Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Comparison: Lessons From The Columbia Basin And The Upper Colorado Basin Fish Recovery Efforts, Mary Christina Wood

Biodiversity Protection: Implementation and Reform of the Endangered Species Act (Summer Conference, June 9-12)

47 pages.

Contains 5 pages of references.

The New Gold Rush: Mine Tailings In Southeast Alaska And Perversion Of The Clean Water Act, Beth Leibowitz

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Part I of this Note provides a basic explanation of the mine tailings problem. Part II of this Note discusses the evolution of the agencies' tailings decision and the statutory and regulatory context in which it occurred. Part III outlines briefly the actual decision, which involved the theory that neither the EPA nor the Corps should apply the usual CWA permit requirements to the initial discharge of mine waste. Part IV evaluates the legal basis for that decision and concludes, based on the language of the CWA, the EPA's own prior policy, and judicial precedent, that the decision was without …

Agenda: Water Quality Control: Integrating Beneficial Use And Environmental Protection, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Water Quality Control: Integrating Beneficial Use and Environmental Protection (Summer Conference, June 1-3)

Conference organizers and/or faculty included University of Colorado School of Law professors David H. Getches, Lawrence J. MacDonnell and Charles F. Wilkinson.

Protecting water quality is essential to preserve the many beneficial uses of western water resources. This conference addresses the dominant federal requirements in the Clean Water Act, including the important major revisions enacted by Congress in 1987, with special attention to western problems regarding nonpoint source pollution. Developments in groundwater quality regulation are considered, as are selected issues concerning the implications of state and federal water quality regulation for the traditional exercise of water rights.

Section 404: The Nasty Business Of The Clean Water Act, Oliver A. Houck

Water Quality Control: Integrating Beneficial Use and Environmental Protection (Summer Conference, June 1-3)

9 pages.

Contains references.

Financing Water Projects: Where Do We Go From Here?, Henry P. Caulfield, Jr.

Western Water Law in Transition (Summer Conference, June 3-5)

16 pages.

Panel: Section 404 Of The Clean Water Act And Section 7 Of The Endangered Species Act: Potential Impacts On Water Supplies [Supplemental Materials], Wendy C. Weiss

The Federal Impact on State Water Rights (Summer Conference, June 11-13)

57 pages.

Supplemental materials. Includes text of Riverside Irrigation District v. Andrews, 568 F.Supp 563 and Opening Brief of Plaintiff-Intervenor-Appellants in Riverside Irrigation District v. Andrews, Cases No. 83-2114, 83-2115, 83-2119, 83-2230, April 3, 1984.

Developments In Federal Water Policies And Programs, Harold W. Furman Ii

The Federal Impact on State Water Rights (Summer Conference, June 11-13)

14 pages.

Negotiation As A Means Of Quantifying Indian Water Rights, Joseph R. Membrino

The Federal Impact on State Water Rights (Summer Conference, June 11-13)

88 pages.

Contains attachments.

South Dakota And The Etsi Experience, William J. Janklow

New Sources of Water for Energy Development and Growth: Interbasin Transfers: A Short Course (Summer Conference, June 7-10)

23 pages.

Federal Regulation Of Appropriations Of Water In The Name Of Protecting Water Quality, David L. Harrison

Water Resources Allocation: Laws and Emerging Issues: A Short Course (Summer Conference, June 8-11)

9 pages.

Pure Water, Pure Law, And Pure Nonsense: Outline, Charles E. Corker

Water Resources Allocation: Laws and Emerging Issues: A Short Course (Summer Conference, June 8-11)

24 pages.