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Eastern Water Law & Policy Reporter

January 2012

Volume 7, Number 1 January 2012

FEATURE ARTICLE

Activists Suit Seeking to Challenge State Water Quality Certifications Likely to Fall Short by Parker Moore and Richard Davis, Beveridge and Diamond, P.C., Washington, D.C.3

EASTERN WATER NEWS

American Society of Civil Engineers Commissioned Report Paints Bleak Economic Outlook of Aging U.S. Water Infrastructure7

News From the West9

FLOOD CONTROL DEVELOPMENTS

Flood Control Management and Liability Update11

REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS

At Sea: New Vessel General Permit Proposed for Ships in U.S. Waters13

U.S. EPA Announces Multi-Site Clean Water Act Settlement against the Largest Diversified Supplier of Construction Materials in the United

States15

PENALTIES AND SANCTIONS

Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions17

JUDICIAL DEVELOPMENTS

Federal:

Third Circuit Finds Wetlands Fall within the CWA’s Jurisdiction if they Meet either the ‘Plurality’ or ‘Significant Nexus’ Test under Rapanos19

U.S. v. Donovan, ___F.3d___, Case No. 10-4295 (3rd Cir. Oct. 21, 2011).

District Court Denies Protective Order Regarding Medical Records in Medical Monitoring Case Involving Hydraulic Fracturing of Natural Gas Wells21

Fiorentino v. Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation, ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 09-2284 (M.D. Pa. Nov 1, 2011).

District Court Agrees that Alabama and Louisiana’s Claims For Civil Penalties under State Law Are Preempted by the Clean Water Act22

In re Oil Spill by the Oil Rig ‘Deepwater Horizon’ in the Gulf of Mexico, on April 20, 2010, ___F.Supp.2d___, Case MDL 2179 (E.D. La. Nov. 14, 2011).

District Court Denies Motion to Intervene in 34-Year Old Clean Water Act Case as Untimely24

U.S. v. City of Detroit, ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 77-71100 (E.D. Mich. Nov. 18, 2011).

State:

New Hampshire Supreme Court Finds Towns Have Authority to Regulate Pond Height through Beaver Dams26

Morrissey, et al v. Town of Lyme, Case No. 2010-661 (NH 2011).