On March 30, 2018, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt issued a memorandum eliminating the authority of Regional Administrators to veto decisions by the Army Corps of Engineers to grant a permit for impacts to streams or wetlands. The veto authority has been re-delegated to the U.S. EPA Administrator.
Any project that results in a discharge of
The Trump Administration has promised massive deregulation, in particular reductions in environmental regulations. A major target of the Trump Administration’s deregulation agenda is the Obama Administration’s Waters of the U.S. Rule (WOTUS) which defines which wetlands and streams are federally regulated.
However, as described in this post, despite the controversy, all of the regulatory activity
Do you believe this is a stream that has a "significant nexus" to a navigable waterway (current test established under Rapanos by Supreme Court Justice Kennedy)
Is it reasonable to require a Federal Section 404 and State
Another aspect of Governor Kasich’s controversial proposed legislation- Senate Bill 315- is to provide the legislative authority for Ohio EPA to take over Section 404 Clean Water Act permitting from the Army Corps of Engineers. Section 404 permits are needed prior to impacts to streams or wetlands within federal jurisdiction.
The bill itself doesn’t really do
Ever since Rapanos, EPA has struggled to consistently apply the "continuous surface connection" and "significant nexus test" which both emerged from the Supreme Court decision. The two tests are to be used to determine whether wetlands fall within federal jurisdiction.
To combat these inconsistencies, the Army Corps (ACOE) has adopted guidance documents to help
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The U.S. Supreme Court issued two landmark decisions, Rapanos and SWANCC, which interpret the extent of federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act. Since these decisions were issued the Army Corps of Engineers as well as Courts have had difficulty applying the tests for determining federal jurisdiction in a consistent and coherent manner.
The Army Corps
On September 12, 2008, Ohio EPA issued proposed rules that would require a new permit, called a "state water quality permit", for all dredge or fill impacts to non-federally regulated streams. Ohio may be the first state in the country to try and expand state stream permit requirements in reaction to recent U.S. Supreme