Environmental Law, Eleventh Circuit Survey

In 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit decided novel issues in two cases under the Clean Water Act (CWA). In Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Inc. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the court held remand of a Corps of Engineers permitting decision for reconsideration without also vacating the permit is a remedy within the court\u27s discretion and was appropriate under the circumstances. In Riverkeeper v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the court held appellate review of a non-final response by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to a petition to withdraw Alabama\u27s authority to administer the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting program was improper. Also, in Altamaha Riverkeeper, Inc. v. Rayonier, Inc., the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia concluded that an NPDES permit issued by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division did not include Georgia\u27s narrative water quality standards for turbidity, color, and odor despite two potentially abmiguous references to those standards in the permit