March 11, 2011Private Landowners Granted Right to Challenge EPA’s Clean Water Act “Impaired Waters” Listing DecisionsIn a Marten Law briefing, Meline MacCurdy reports a recent Ninth Circuit holding that a “perceived” decrease in value of private property following EPA’s approval of a state’s “impaired waters” listing under Section 303 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) is sufficient to establish the standing of a private plaintiff to challenge the agency’s decision. The case of first impression, Barnum Timber Co. v. EPA, 2011 WL 383012 (9th Cir. Feb. 3, 2009), gives private property owners adjacent to creeks, rivers and other waterbodies in the West a seat at the table in CWA listing decisions, a step that often occurs long before affirmative obligations are imposed on uses of the private properties through the total maximum daily load (TMDL) program. Click here to read the briefing. Posted by Rachel Treichler at 03/11/11 8:00 AM
Copyright 2021, Rachel Treichler
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