Great Lakes Law

Safe Drinking Water: A Tale of Three Cities - Sixteenth Annual Great Lakes Water Conference at University of Toledo College of Law

Safe drinking water will be the focus of the 16th Annual Great Lakes Water Conference on Friday, November 4, 2016 at the University of Toledo College of Law. Todd Flood, Special Counsel for the Michigan Attorney General Flint water crisis investigation (and a Toledo Law alum) will open the conference with a keynote speech, followed by a panel I’m moderating that will explore the situation and legal developments in Flint in more detail (with NRDC... Read more →

Supreme Court allows review of federal wetland jurisdictional determinations before permitting

Earlier this summer, in United States Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co., Inc., 136 S.Ct. 1807 (2016), the United States Supreme Court unanimously held that an approved jurisdictional determination made by the United States Army Corps of Engineers under the Clean Water Act is a “final agency action” subject to immediate judicial review under the Administrative Procedure Act. The case gives property owners a more timely chance to challenge federal wetland protection measures on... Read more →

The Flint drinking water crisis - first thoughts and a legal overview

The Flint drinking water crisis is a nightmare for the families and children affected. As the father of school-aged children, my heart breaks for the parents that were betrayed by the system that was supposed to protect their kids but instead put them at unconscionable risk. Giving the kids a bath, pouring them a glass of water, and taking them to school are the daily activities a parent should take for granted as safe. But... Read more →

Crowdsourcing water quality data to enforce the Clean Water Act - guest post by James Lang

The following guest post on crowdsourcing water quality data to enforce the Clean Water Act is by James Lang, who practiced law in Flint for many years, and formerly served as a Board Member of Legal Services of Eastern Michigan. In 2012 and 2013, Mr. Lang was a guest lecturer at MSU’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism. His interests include the Great Lakes, water quality, and transparency in government. Mr. Lang earned his B.A. from... Read more →

Federal appeals court blocks the Clean Water Rule, dealing a major blow to the agencies’ attempt to clarify federal jurisdiction over waters and wetlands

The Clean Water Rule (also called the Waters of the United States, or WOTUS rule) was promulgated earlier this summer by the US EPA and Army Corps of Engineers to clarify federal jurisdiction over waters and wetlands in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2006 Rapanos decision. For a detailed background on the Clean Water/WOTUS Rule and the regulatory and litigation history behind it, please refer to this paper by Maureen O'Sullivan, Wayne Law ’16,... Read more →

Federal court rejects weak EPA general permit for ballast water pollution, agency must do a better job protecting Great Lakes from invasive species

The EPA’s Vessel General Permit for discharging ballast water has been rejected by a federal appeals court (opinion here) for failing to adequately protect the Great Lakes and other waters from invasive species. Ballast water discharges are subject to the federal Clean Water Act and the EPA’s prior rule exempting this source of pollution from regulation was previously struck down in Nw. Envtl. Advocates v. EPA, 537 F.3d 1006 (9th Cir. 2008). The EPA issued... Read more →

Petcoke on the Detroit River – a tar sands byproduct threatens local public health and Great Lakes water

In the early spring of 2012, a black pile three stories high and as large as many of the surrounding buildings appeared along the shores of the Detroit River. This pile was made up of petroleum coke, or “petcoke,” a byproduct created by the process of transforming heavy tar sands oil into useable fuel. While petcoke is not traditionally burned in the United States, competitive markets exist for petcoke in the developing world. This pile’s... Read more →

Law and Governance of the Great Lakes

Along with my friend and colleague Ben Houston, I’ve published a new article entitled simply “Law and Governance of the Great Lakes.” The article appears in the DePaul Law Review’s special symposium issue on the Great Lakes, 63 DePaul Law Review 723 (2014). It aims to explain the law and governance of the Great Lakes within the United States (apologies to Canada, that’s a subject for another time). While discussing the key laws and policies,... Read more →

Transnational Environmental Law Clinic Comments on Proposed Wastewater Treatment Plant

The following student post is by David Furman (B.S. Accounting, Oakland University, J.D., Wayne State University Law School, expected 2015). While in law school, David has clerked at a mid-sized law firm and is currently employed in the regulatory department of an international electrical transmission corporation. David is working as a student attorney this semester in the Transnational Environmental Law Cling. Also, special thanks to former Clinic student Andew Gonyea who worked on this project... Read more →

Federal district court rejects EPA rule exempting water transfers from Clean Water Act regulation

The following student post is by Collin Gannon (B.A., University of Pittsburgh; J.D., University of Michigan Law School, expected 2015). While in law school, Collin has worked at the Utton Transboundary Resources Center and the New Mexico Supreme Court. A federal district court in New York has vacated and remanded EPA’s controversial “Water Transfers Rule.” In Catskill Mountains Chapter of Trout Unlimited v. EPA (“Catskills II”) (S.D.N.Y., Mar. 28, 2014), Judge Kenneth Karas rejected the... Read more →

Addressing the Great Lakes Prescription Drug Problem

The following student post is by Karinne Marcolini (B.A., Michigan State University; J.D., Wayne State University Law School, expected 2015). While in law school, Karinne has worked at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan and the Crisis Centre in Nassau, Bahamas. Prescription drug pollution in surface and groundwater is a growing economic and health concern. A recent study, Protecting the Great Lakes from Pharmaceutical Pollution, demonstrated that prescription drug pollution was... Read more →

Gulf of Mexico “dead zone” litigation sets new precedent for compelling EPA action to address nutrient pollution

Environmental groups have won a significant legal victory to compel the U.S. EPA to take action in response to the Gulf of Mexico “dead zone,” caused by nitrogen and phosphorus pollution in the Mississippi River. In Gulf Restoration Network v. Jackson, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana held that the EPA must make a “necessity determination” regarding water quality standards under the Clean Water Act in response to a petition for... Read more →

Federal court rejects National Wildlife Federation’s challenge to EPA Vessel General Permit regulating ballast water discharges

In 2012, the US EPA proposed a Vessel General Permit to regulate ballast water discharges pursuant to the Clean Water Act. Ballast water from other regions is a significant source of invasive species in the Great Lakes. Numerous environmental organizations commented on the permit proposal, generally criticizing it for using too weak a standard, exempting a large category of vessels, and not requiring compliance for several years (see this prior post). After the EPA finalized... Read more →