Clean Water Act – Forward to the Past?

The federal Clean Water Act regulates discharges to “navigable waters,” which the Act defines as “waters of the United States, including the territorial seas.” For decades the Environmental Protection Agency interpreted “waters of the US” very broadly through regulations, but in the past 20 years the agency lost two Supreme Court cases that have required amendments to the regulations. With a third significant decision pending from the Court in Sackett v. EPA, the agency just released the fourth major revision to the regulations defining “navigable waters” in the last eight years. This panel discussed what is old and what is new in the Biden Administration’s bid to finally capture what “waters of the US” means, and what impact the Sackett decision may have when it comes down.Featuring: --Kevin Minoli, Partner, Alston & Bird--[Moderator] Tony Francois, Partner, Briscoe Ivester & Bazel