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Eastern Water Law & Policy Reporter

February 2021

Volume 16, Number 1 February 2021

WATER NEWS

Criminal Charges Filed Against Former Michigan Governor Stemming from Flint Drinking Water Crisis3

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Convenes Industry Leaders into Climate and Sustainability Consortium4

News from the West5

REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS

U.S. EPA Releases ‘Functional Equivalent’ Guidance Memorandum in Response to County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund Decision10

PENALTIES AND SANCTIONS

Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions13

RECENT FEDERAL DECISIONS

Circuit Court of Appeals:

Ninth Circuit Reject’s District Court Holding that Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for Road Project Violated

NEPA16

Bair v. California Department of Transportation, 982 F.3d 569 (9th Cir. 2020).

Ninth Circuit Finds Federal Agencies Violated NEPA and the Endangered Species Act in Approving Offshore Oil Facility18

Center for Biological Diversity v. Bernhardt, 982 F.3d 723 (9th Cir. 2020).

Eleventh Circuit Finds Mere Allegations of a Hydrological Connection Are Insufficient for a Criminal Conviction under the Clean Water Act20

United States v. Coleman, Unpub., Case No. 19-15127 (11th Cir. Dec 21, 2020).

District Court:

Monsanto PCB Clean Water Act Class Action Settlement Rejected by the District Court21

City of Long Beach v. Monsanto Company, et al., ___F.Supp.3d___, Case No. CV 16-3493 FMO (C.D. Cal. Nov. 25, 2020).