Clean Water Act

The Trump administration has announced several regulatory rollbacks designed to curb limits on power plant emissions, along with cutting protections for air and water quality. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin on March 12 said the agency is moving to undo at least 31 regulations established during the Biden administration in an effort to […]

The U.S. Supreme Court on April 6 reinstated a Trump-era environmental rule that limited state and tribal roles in enforcing a section of the Clean Water Act (CWA) related to project certification. The order is a temporary triumph for eight states and three energy trade associations, including the National Hydropower Association (NHA). The high court’s […]

The Trump administration on June 1 moved to limit the ability of individual states to use provisions of the Clean Water Act (CWA) to block energy projects, a potential win for the power generation and other energy industry sectors that have battled lengthy licensing and permitting reviews and rejections based on climate change arguments. The […]

In a legal victory for environmental groups, a federal court has vacated key portions of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) November 2015-promulgated effluent limitations guidelines (ELGs) for steam electric power plants, deeming them “unlawful.”  The decision adds a dramatic new element of uncertainty in timing of the rule, which the Trump administration has said it […]

In a move widely applauded by the power industry, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of the Army proposed a new definition of “waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) that could exempt groundwater and ditches from regulation under the Clean Water Act (CWA).  The measures follow other recent significant regulatory actions by the agency. On […]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in July issued a long-awaited decision in the case Cooling Water Intake Structure Coalition v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), upholding the EPA’s

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously reversed and remanded a rule the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers rolled out in 2015 that asserts federal authority over small bodies of water with a broader definition of the statutory term, “waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS). In a ruling for National Association of […]

Steam electric power plants preparing to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) effluent limitations guidelines (ELG) and standards as they concern bottom ash transport water and flue gas desulfurization (FGD) waste streams will get—for now—a two-year reprieve under a new rule the agency finalized on September 12. The ELG rule, which was finalized by […]

Congressional efforts to block the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) contentious rule asserting federal authority over small bodies of water were derailed on Jan. 21. Senate Republicans voted 52–40, failing to override the president’s veto of the so-called “Clean Water Rule”—also “Waters of the United States” (or WOTUS) well short of the 60 necessary votes. Clean […]

American Electric Power (AEP) has agreed to close a coal plant and make changes at two others to resolve alleged Clean Water Act (CWA) violations. According to consent decrees filed in two West Virginia federal district courts, the company on Friday agreed to settle allegations from numerous citizen groups that the coal-fired John E. Amos, Kammer, […]