Land Use, Department of Ecology, Washington, Water
May 1, 2014
Dam(med) if You do
March 5, 2014
Washington Court of Appeals Division II issued a decision on an interesting case on Tuesday regarding damage caused by release of additional water to property below a dam on the North Fork of the Skokomish River. The water was released in order to protect salmon and improve water quality.
NPDES Phase I Municipal Stormwater Permit Decision Coming Soon!
January 23, 2014
A decision will be issued on or around February 28 regarding PCHB NOS. 12-093c.
Reflections from the NPDES Phase I Municipal Stormwater Permit Appeal – The Spooky Halloween Post
October 31, 2013
On Thursday, October 24, after three weeks of testimony on the Phase I permit (and some issues from the Phase II permit), the trial at the Pollution Control Hearings Board concluded. Clearly, stormwater management in Washington is a very complicated…
Stormwater Appeal Update
October 17, 2013
BIA of Clark County and the counties of Pierce, King, Snohomish and Clark, and cities of Seattle and Tacoma, along with a number of smaller Phase II jurisdictions concluded their case in chief this week challenging various aspects of Ecology’s…
Opening Statements at the Pollution Control Hearings Board
October 8, 2013
Opening statements at the Pollution Control Hearings Board laid out the arguments of the numerous appellants. The local governments argued that while LID techniques are effective in many applications, the MS4 Permit (“Permit”) lacks reasonable standards for when not to use…
Washington Stormwater Appeals Begin a New Round With New Participants
October 6, 2013
Monday, October 7, the curtain goes up on the next act in the long running Washington stormwater imbroglio. What is different this time is that five counties, twenty-five cities, and the Washington State Department of Transportation (“WSDOT”) oppose the Department…
Clark County Stormwater Update
April 9, 2013
Here is a good article from the Vancouver Business Journal on the status of the stormwater lawsuits involving Clark County. It also mentions this letter that Clark County received from Maia Bellon, Washington Department of Ecology’s new director, who is getting Ecology back…
Stormwater Petition for Review Denied
March 6, 2013
The Washington Supreme Court denied Clark County and the Building Industry Association of Clark County petitions for review challenging the ruling of Division II of the Washington Court of Appeals affirming of the Pollution Control Hearings Board decision rejecting Clark County’s alternative…
EPA Cannot Regulate Stormwater as a Pollutant
January 14, 2013
In a recent ruling the Eastern District of the Federal Court in Virginia ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) cannot regulate stormwater as a pollutant under the Clean Water Act (“CWA”). Fairfax County and the State of Virginia sued the EPA…
