Tag: Clean Water Act
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Landmark Supreme Court ruling in Chevron case could curb environmental protections in California
Photo: A drone view of the Chevron Richmond Refinery in Richmond, Calif., on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) Closely watched decision is cheered by business groups, slammed by environmentalists A major ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday that weakened the ability of federal agencies to set rules on the…
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EPA releases information that states and Tribes can use to protect local fish from toxic tire chemicals
From the US EPA: Today, June 10 [2024], the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published water quality screening values under the Clean Water Act related to short-term concentrations of 6PPD and 6PPD-quinone (6PPD-q). These chemicals have been found in freshwater ecosystems and linked to runoff from automotive tire dust and debris. Once in freshwater, these chemicals…
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Colorado to shield thousands of acres of wetlands, miles of streams after U.S. Supreme Court left them vulnerable
The Blanca Wildlife Habitat Area, located in the San Luis Valley, is about 15 square miles in area. (Olivia Sun, The Colorado Sun via Report for America) Thousands of acres of Colorado wetlands and miles of streams, left unprotected by a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year, would be shielded under a hard-won measure that…
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It’s Raining Stormwater NOVs in California
Photo: Adobe Stock / Romolo Tavani For many California industrial facilities, above average rainfall brought 60-day notices of violation from private enforcers threatening to file federal Clean Water Act complaints. After many years of drought, in late 2023 and early 2024 California experienced significant rain. Indeed, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported rainfall quantities far…
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The Long Life and Sudden Demise of Federal Wetlands Protection
Here’s a timeline of events. It’s no wonder that one EPA staffer’s reaction to the Supreme Court ruling was a single word: “Heartbroken.” In 2023, the Supreme Court ended fifty years of broad federal protection to wetlands in Sackett v. United States. It is only when you look back at the history of federal wetland regulation that you realize just…
