Eastern Water Law & Policy Reporter

WATER NEWS

Can the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Designate Uninhabitable Areas as ‘Critical Habitat’ of a Listed Species—Must Courts Defer to Its Interpretation of the ESA?31

Texas v. Colorado and New Mexico Update—Oral Arguments on the United States’ Complaint of Intervention33

News from the West35

PENALTIES AND SANCTIONS

Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions38

JUDICIAL DEVELOPMENTS

Federal:

U.S. Supreme Court Clarifies Procedure for Challenging Regulations Defining the Scope of the Clean Water Act, Leaving Substance Unresolved42

National Association of Manufacturers v. Department of Defense, ___U.S.___,

S. Ct. Case No. 16-299 (U.S. Jan. 22, 2018).

First Circuit Holds EPA Has Discretion on Whether to Serve Individual Clean Water Act Notices on Stormwater Dischargers44

Conservation Law Foundation, et al. v. Scott Pruitt, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency et al., 881 F.3d 24 (1st Cir. 2018).

Ninth Circuit Finds Pollution from Wells to the Pacific Ocean Constituted Point Sources under the Clean Water Act—the Stage May Be Set for U.S. Supreme Court Determination46

Hawai’i Wildlife Fund v. County of Maui, ___F.3d___, Case No. 15-17447 (9th Cir. Feb. 1,2018).

Fifth Circuit Permits Case Removal of ‘Mass Actions’ under the Class Action Fairness Act for Claims of 100 or More Impacted Plaintiffs in Radioactive Material Operations48

Warren Lester, et al v. Exxon Mobile Corporation, ___F.3d___, Case No. 14-31383 (5th Cir. Jan. 9, 2018).

District Court Extends Eleventh Circuit Precedent to Apply CERCLA Preemption of State Law Tort Claim Statute of Limitations50

Abner v. U.S. Pipe & Foundry Co., LLC, ___F.Supp.3d___, Case No. 2:15-cv-02040 (N.D. Al. Jan. 23, 2018).

District Court Denies Summary Judgment Motion Brought against Honeywell Seeking to Limit Soil and Groundwater Environmental Indemnity52

Hammond, Kennedy, Whitney & Co., Inc. v. Honeywell International, Inc., ___F.Supp.3d___, Case No. 1:16-cv-09808 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 29, 2018).

District Court Finds That Landowner Which Did Not Pollute Site Still Liable under CERCLA Contribution Claim for Soil and Groundwater Contamination54

Valbruna Slater Steel Corporation, et al., v. Joslyn Manufacturing Company, et al., ___F.Supp.3d___, Case No. 1:10-CV-044 JD (N.D. Ind. Jan. 16, 2018).