NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA: CLEAN WATER ACT RULEMAKING
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has vacated a Clean Water Act regulation that dramatically limited water quality requirements. The regulation was implemented by the EPA on September 11, 2020 in response to Donald Trump’s Executive Order entitled “Promoting Energy Infrastructure and Economic Growth,” and subsequently was included among the regulatory decisions that the Biden administration ordered reviewed. The Court found that the 2020 regulation defied the purpose of the Clean Water Act. In remanding back to the EPA for rulemaking consistent with the purpose of the Clean Water Act, the federal court found that vacating the existing regulation was less disruptive than remanding without vacatur.
[To accompany Federal Case Law Update "Federal Court Vacates Existing EPA Rule ” from Brooks Animal Law Digest Issue No. 111.]