In re Clean Water Act Rulemaking

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

In re No. C 20-04636 WHA No. C 20-04869 WHA CLEAN WATER ACT No. C 20-06137 WHA

RULEMAKING.

This Document Relates to: (Consolidated)

ALL ACTIONS. ORDER RE MOTION FOR

REMAND WITHOUT VACATUR

15 16 INTRODUCTION Plaintiff states, tribes, and non-profit conservation groups have challenged EPA’s Clean Water Act certification rule, and now EPA moves to remand the proceedings without vacatur. For the reasons stated, the rule is remanded to the agency with vacatur. STATEMENT The Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, commonly known as the Clean Water Act, is the primary federal statute regulating water pollution. Congress enacted the Clean Water Act in 1972 — over then-President Nixon’s veto — but the roots of the Act extend much farther back to 1899 and the Rivers and Harbors Act. That statute, often referred to as the Refuse Act, primarily ensured…