Muddy Waters: Recent Developments under the Clean Water Act

[...] the article looks at who, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps), has the regulatory authority when it comes to placing mining slurry into jurisdictional waters. In Coeur Alaska, Inc. v. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, et al., the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the issue of who - the Corps, under Section 404 (dredge or fill material permitting), or EPA, under Sections 402 (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System or NPDES permitting) and 306 (new source performance standards) - has the authority to issue permits for the disposal of "mining slurry" into a lake. Disposal of pharmaceuticals under RCRA could become even less supervised as die House Committee on Natural Resources is hearing a proposal by EPA to add pharmaceuticals to a list of wastes eligible for regulations under its Universal Waste Rule, which may be less stringent than die mies for hazardous wastes under RCRA.