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Please Click HerePosted on January 11, 2016 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Introduction In the Odyssey, Homer told of the inescapable sailing hazards that confronted Odysseus: the six-headed sea monster, Scylla, on one side of a strait and a whirlpool, Charybdis, on the other. Odysseus chose to avoid losing all to the whirlpool and take his chances with the monster. This was a good choice; Odysseus made […]
Posted on October 13, 2015 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Various challenges to the Clean Water Rule, issued by the EPA and the Corps of Engineers on June 29, 2015, and effective August 28, 2015, have been consolidated by the Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. On October 9 the Sixth Circuit issued a stay of enforcement of the […]
Posted on October 13, 2015 by Ruder Ware Alumni
I. Introduction The terms “waters of the United States” and “navigable waters of the United States” are two separate definitions applied by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) in different contexts pursuant to different statutes. Let’s suppose you want to construct a hydroelectric plant. A fundamental concern would be whether the newly constructed […]
Posted on September 9, 2015 by Ruder Ware Alumni
There are numerous pending lawsuits challenging the EPA and Corps of Engineers’ “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) Rule. The Rule took effect in thirty-seven states on August 28, 2015, after proceedings in three of these lawsuits. The explanation lies in procedural intricacy. Under the Clean Water Act (“CWA”), original jurisdiction to challenge a rule […]
Posted on August 10, 2015 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Posted on May 26, 2015 by Ruder Ware Alumni
This article reviews the second of three important U.S. Supreme Court cases that examine the jurisdictional reach of the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) by interpreting the definition of the “waters of the United States.” The first case was United States v. Riverside Bayview Homes, Inc., 474 U.S. 121 (1985) (“Riverside Bayview”), where the Court held […]
Posted on April 29, 2015 by Ruder Ware Alumni
The joint initiative of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) to define the “waters of the United States” is the result of three U.S. Supreme Court cases that develop the “significant nexus” test of jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act (“CWA”). This article discusses the […]
Posted on March 16, 2015 by Ruder Ware Alumni
On March 10, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued an unpublished decision in Precon Development Corporation, Incorporated v. United States Army Corps of Engineers (link to Decision). Unpublished decisions are not binding in the Fourth Circuit. The decision applies the “significant nexus test” of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers […]
Posted on September 30, 2014 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Administrative Law Judge Jeffrey Boldt, Wisconsin Division of Hearings and Appeals, issued his September 3, 2014, decision holding that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has the legal authority and duty to consider cumulative impacts from groundwater withdrawal so as to prevent potential harm to the waters of the state. “It is scientifically unsupported, and […]
Posted on April 28, 2014 by Ruder Ware Alumni
In an effort to modernize state law with regard to the operation of farm machinery, Governor Scott Walker signed Act 377, often referred to as the “Implements of Husbandry Bill,” on April 24, 2014. Act 377 increases weight limits and size restrictions for implements of husbandry (IoHs), eliminates restrictions on hours of operation, revises the […]