Category: Water and Wastewater
Understanding 91’s Amnesty Program
Chapter 91 of the Massachusetts General Laws, otherwise known as the Public Waterfront Act, is the primary law protecting the public’s rights to use and access the coastal tidelands of the Commonwealth. First adopted in 1866, the law has roots extending back to ancient Rome, where the Justinian code...
MassDEP Proposes Updates to Stormwater Management Standards
In addition to amending the Wetlands Protection Regulations to add performance standards for the Land Subject to Coastal Storm Flowage wetland resource area, MassDEP wants to update the Massachusetts Stormwater Management Standards as part of its efforts to promote climate resiliency. The Stormwater Management Standards are contained in Chapter...
MassDEP Proposes New Coastal Floodplain Standards to Improve Climate Resiliency
There has been a joke for some time now that whenever MassDEP proposes new regulations, they must have finally developed the performance standard for Land Subject to Coastal Storm Flowage (“LSCSF”). Well, the joke’s on us, folks: they’ve gone and done it. The long-awaited LSCSF performance standard is just...
The Basics of Stormwater Permitting in Massachusetts
After a summer of historic rainfall and flooding in Massachusetts, stormwater is on our minds. Stormwater is a major source of water pollution in the Commonwealth, and it is crucial that owners and operators of commercial and industrial facilities, land developers, and construction contractors understand the legal framework governing...
Supreme Court Ignores Dictionary, Limits Clean Water Act
The United States Supreme Court decided last week in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency that a word does not mean what the dictionary, Congress, or two federal agencies have for 45 years understood it to mean. The word in question is “adjacent,” and the context is when an “adjacent...
COVID-19 Alert: State of Maine and City of Portland Issue Orders to Close Non-essential Businesses; Utility Services to Continue
On Tuesday March 24, 2020, both the City of Portland and the State of Maine issued comprehensive new limitations on business establishments in order to further limit the spread of the coronavirus. Both actions were aimed at limiting the operation of non-essential business and government operations, and continuing to...
COVID-19 Alert: Massachusetts Closes “Non-essential” Businesses; Utility Services to Continue
The response to COVID-19 by states across the U.S. has continued to evolve rapidly. In Massachusetts, due to growing concerns over the spread of coronavirus, Governor Charlie Baker issued a “ shelter in place” order that went into effect March 24, 2020 at noon and runs until April 7...
Maine’s COVID-19 Response Impacts Utility Services and Other Business Activities
Like many states, Maine is quickly imposing a wide range of measures designed to protect the public in response to the spread of the coronavirus, COVID-19. Almost daily, Maine Governor Janet Mills and other state agencies have announced new measures. On Sunday, March 15, Governor Mills issued a Proclamation...
Maine Street Solutions - Legislative Update
Election night is now (mostly) in the books. As the night wore on, the blue tide turned into a blue wave and ended as a mini blue tsunami crashing on the Maine shore. More results are still coming in, but here's what we know about the top of the...
USCG Announces Ballast Water Management (BWM) Compliance Program Update
On December 2, 2016, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) issued its first Ballast Water Management System (BWMS) type-approval certificate, ushering in a new era in environmental compliance for companies operating commercial vessels with ballast water systems in U.S. waters (within 12 nautical miles). Based on public information about...
On Tap For Yuengling, Clean Water Act Penalties
Wastewater disposal for large breweries, mid-sized establishments, and even small craft brewers, remains a significant environmental and economic challenge. Recently, the oldest brewery in America received an unpleasant reminder of this fact. D.G. Yuengling and Sons, Inc. was issued a complaint from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) alleging...
WOTUS Rule Saga Gets Weirder with EPA "Covert Propaganda"
The EPA rule attempting to clarify the scope of Clean Water Act jurisdiction took another gut punch when the Government Accountability Office found that the EPA's use of social media in connection with its rulemaking violated anti-lobbying laws . The rule in question attempts to define the term "waters...
U.S. Court of Appeals Invalidates Ballast Water Treatment Regulations & Vessel General Permit
On October 5, in the case of Natural Resources Defense Council v. U.S. EPA , the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit invalidated the process USEPA used in promulgating its 2013 Vessel General Permit that sets that agency’s standards for discharges from merchant vessels under the...
EPA and States Locked in Funhouse Litigation over WOTUS Rule
Eighteen states that are suing the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to block the regulation attempting to identify jurisdictional waters of the United States under the Clean Water Act have filed a motion for a preliminary injunction with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit...
EPA WOTUS Rule Takes Effect in Most States - Or Does It?
The rule enacted by the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers intended to clarify the scope of jurisdictional waters of the United States (often referred to as the WOTUS Rule or Clean Water Rule) was set to take effect on August 28. One day prior to that, a...
EPA and Corps Release Clean Water Rule in Attempt to Clarify Jurisdictional Waters for 404 Permits
The EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers today released a new rule attempting to clarify the scope of jurisdictional "waters of the United States" under the Clean Water Act. Work that takes place in waters of the United States can require a dredge and fill permit under...
High Water Everywhere: Northeast Waters Warmin’ and A Risin’
Researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of Arizona recently released findings from tidal data collected over a two year period (2009-2010). The central conclusion of the data is this: New England sea levels are rising more rapidly than anticipated. Although the study most...
EPA Considers Portion of Hackensack River for National Priorities List
This article was written with the assistance of Nora Lawrence, Associate. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced plans to evaluate whether a 17-mile stretch of the Hackensack River in New Jersey should be added to Superfund’s National Priorities List (NPL). The assessment comes as a response to a...
