SO, YOU THINK YOU'RE IN COMPLIANCE? THINK AGAIN!

Regulatory programs under the Clean Water Act ("CWA") are grappling with how to solve increasingly complex emerging issues. Environmental agencies, such as the EPA, have not established clear and consistent positions on many of these emerging issues, and such inconsistencies have caused a great deal of confusion among the regulated community as to how to comply with CWA requirements. This paper reviews in part how agencies and environmental groups have furthered this confusion by imposing new inconsistent regulatory requirements upon CWA dischargers by using means such as informal guidance documents, petitions to withdraw authority for state water quality programs, and pursuing enforcement actions. This paper also explores recent case law developments regarding some of the current compliance issues facing CWA permittees.