Archive for: United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
The Conservative Turn Against Compensatory Mitigation
This Essay considers the recent conservative turn against compensatory mitigation policies. Those policies allow environmentally destructive activities to proceed, but on the condition that regulated actors compensate by protecting or improving environmental conditions somewhere else. Over the last four decades, those policies have become increasingly prevalent within environmental law, and …
Read MoreParsing Rapanos
I. Introduction On January 31, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) finalized a rule delaying implementation of the Obama-era Clean Water Rule until February, 2020.[1] The Clean Water Rule had attempted to clarify the definition of “waters of the United States” …
Read MoreJones v. Nat’l Marine Fisheries (No. 11-35954, 2013)
The panel affirmed the district court’s summary judgment in favor of the United States Army Corps of Engineers in an action under the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act challenging the Corps’ issuance of a permit as part of a project to mine valuable mineral sands near …
Read MoreSwamp Swaps: The “Second Nature” of Wetlands
Traditionally, American wetlands had market value only after being dredged or filled. Gradually, however, alternative markets are being provided in which wetlands may obtain market value while remaining wet. As these markets grow they will raise new issues for U.S. wetlands policy, which today provides little guidance for the management …
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