Wetlands
Federal Agencies Announce Supplemental Proposed “Waters of the United States” Rule
On September 9, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers published a Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNPRM) seeking comment on proposed additional revisions to the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act (CWA). This SNPRM builds on the agencies’ November 2025 Notice of…
DEC Releases Guidance on Freshwater Wetlands Following Annulment
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has released guidance clarifying its implementation of Article 24 of the Environmental Conservation Law, known as the Freshwater Wetlands Act (FWA), following the Albany County Supreme Court’s annulment of DEC’s 6 NYCRR Part 664 regulations. On April 8, 2026, Judge Richard M. Platkin of the New…
NY Court Annuls DEC Freshwater Wetlands Regulations
On April 8, 2026, Judge Richard M. Platkin of the New York State Supreme Court, Albany County, entirely annulled the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC’s) revised Part 664 freshwater wetlands regulations for noncompliance with the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). The revised regulations went into effect in January 2025, and their…
Army Corps Reissues and Modifies Nationwide Permits, Adding One New Permit
March 15, 2026 marked the start of a new five-year cycle for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Nationwide Permits (NWPs). Pursuant to a final rule published on January 8, 2026, the Corps has reissued and modified 56 existing NWPs and created one new NWP. This blog post highlights key changes in the 2026 NWPs,…
Federal Agencies Propose New Regulations Defining “Waters of the United States”
On November 20, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of the Army (Agencies) published a proposed rule, “Updated Definition of Waters of the United States” (Proposed Rule). If finalized, the rule would implement the Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. EPA, discussed in a prior SPR blog post. The Agencies note that the…
Legal Challenges to NYSDEC’s New Freshwater Wetlands Regulations – Four Lawsuits to Watch
At least four separate lawsuits were filed in April 2025 challenging the legality of New York’s Freshwater Wetlands Act and its recently amended implementing regulations. Broadly, the lawsuits seek to annul the 2022 statutory amendments and 2025 regulations and enjoin the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) from implementing the new wetlands regulations….