Stormwater runoff from logging roads that is discharged to navigable waters pursuant to a system of ditches, culverts, and channels requires an NPDES permit.
Continue Reading TIMBER! The Silviculture Exemption for Logging Roads in the CWA is Felled

By Cori M. Badgley

As mining companies continue attempting to lay claim to gold in the state known as “the last frontier,” environmental groups continue in their efforts stop them. At issue in Coeur Alaska, Inc. v. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (2009) 129 S. Ct. 2458 was the proposed disposal of “slurry” from the Kensington Gold Mine into Lower Slate Lake. The United States Army Corps of Engineers (“USACE”) issued a 404 permit for the “fill” of the lake, which was challenged by the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (“SEACC”), among others, on the grounds that the new source performance standards found in Section 306 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq.) (“CWA”) prohibited the discharge of the slurry.
Continue Reading Alaska’s Gold Rush Continues: USACE 404 Permit Upheld by the Supreme Court

By Leslie Z. Walker

In White Tanks v. Strock (9th Cir. 2009) 563 F.3d 1033, the Ninth Circuit held the Army Corps of Engineers (“USACE”) had improperly confined the geographic scope of its environmental analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. § 4321 et seq.) (“NEPA”) in issuing a permit under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq.) (“CWA”). The Court held that because the feasibility of the whole project depends upon the Corps granting a Section 404 permit, the entire project is within the purview of the Corps and thus subject to environmental review under NEPA…
Continue Reading Geographic Scope of Environmental Study Depends on Feasibility of Project without Federal Action