Mark RyanAug 25, 20201 minAnother New OPA Cost-Recovery CaseThis is by my count the sixth reported OPA cost recovery opinion this year. We normally see about one a year. Four of the six cases come ...
Mark RyanAug 25, 20202 minStrange BedfellowsI'm sure the executives at Pebble Mine are recovering from a bit of whiplash this week. The proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska has been contr...
Mark RyanAug 24, 20201 minPLF Continues its Full-Court Press on WOTUSOn August 13, the ND of Cal. denied the Sackett's and business intervenors' motions to intervene in the states' challenge to the 2020 WOT...
Mark RyanAug 21, 20201 minA New Corps JD CaseThe two decisions below both arise from the same case in which plaintiff challenged the Corps JD on his property. The JD was performed us...
Mark RyanAug 21, 20201 minThe Future of the WOTUS RuleThe reporter Hannah Northey just published an article in E&E on the future of the WOTUS rule that is worth reading. She does a good job o...
Mark RyanAug 18, 20201 minTwo Hail MarysLawyers should always think three times before filing a motion for reconsideration. They rarely succeed. United States v. E.R.R. LLC, 202...
Mark RyanAug 14, 20201 minNew Article in Science Magazine Questions 2020 WOTUS RuleThe article below, "Distorting science, putting water at risk" by S. Mazeika Patricio Sullivan, Mark C. Rains, Amanda D. Rodewald, Willia...
Mark RyanAug 14, 20201 minRebuilding the EPAThe Environmental Protection Network just released a large report that was signed by six former EPA administrators from both parties outl...
Mark RyanAug 11, 20201 minTwo New CWA Cases - attorneys fees and WOTUSIt's somewhat unusual to see an award of attorney fees to defendants in a citizen suit case. City of Highland Park v. EPA, 2020 WL 456955...
Mark RyanAug 11, 20201 minNorth Carolina Denies 401 Cert. in a Pipeline CaseThe North Carolina Dept. of Environmental Quality today denied cert. for the Mountain Valley Pipeline Project. The reason for cert. denia...
Mark RyanAug 7, 20203 minThe Newly Proposed NWPs Are Lengthy and Complex But Worth the ReadI completed my first run at the lengthy new proposal from the Corps to renew its long list of NWPs two years before they expire. (Which m...
Mark RyanAug 6, 20201 minYet Another WOTUS Decision - This Time from the Sixth CircuitBy my count, there have now been at least 28 reported cases involving challenges of some sort of challenge to the WOTUS rule, repeal rule...
Mark RyanAug 4, 20202 minCorps Issues New Proposed NWPsThe Corps yesterday pre-published its proposed NWPs revisions. The current NWPs were not set to expire until 2022, but the Trump administ...
Mark RyanAug 3, 20201 minA New OPA Cost-Recovery CaseThis new case from the Second Circuit was a close-call statutory interpretation case that involved what appears to be some very good lawy...
Mark RyanJul 30, 20202 minThe Trump Administration and the CourtsAs I have often pointed out in my various blogposts, the fate of many of the proposed CWA rulemakings hinges on the election and on the ...
Mark RyanJul 29, 20201 minTwo New CWA CasesOVEC v. Bluestone Coal Corp., 2020 WL 4284804 (S.D.W.V. 2020) (on motion for summary judgment, held that defendant is liable 1,904 days o...
Mark RyanJul 28, 20202 minDOJ Issues New CWA Enforcement MemoDOJ yesterday issued a memo stating that it would no longer overfile against defendants who have already been sued by a state unless seve...
Mark RyanJul 27, 20202 minEPA Proposes Changes to its 404(c) Veto PowerEPA has announced its new regulatory agenda, and it's comprehensive. Included in it is a plan to rework the 404(c) regulations. I'll cove...
Mark RyanJul 22, 20201 minTwo New EPA/Corps Rules at OMB for ReviewThe agencies submit their draft rules to OMB for review before releasing them to the public. So knowing what's at OMB gives us an insight...
Mark RyanJul 21, 20201 minAnother 401 Cert. Complaint FiledToday, a group of 19 states and the District of Columbia filed a complaint in the N.D. Cal. challenging the EPA's recently-promulgated 40...