Pending Supreme Court cases testing whether the Clean Water Act (CWA) imposes liability for some groundwater pollution could undermine EPA's attempt to issue a rule "clarifying" its position on the issue, says an industry attorney, as the court could ask the agency to brief it on the question this winter - far ahead of EPA's timeline for a rule. During an Oct. 23 American Legal Institute-Continuing Legal Education (ALI-CLE) webinar on the battle over C WA-groundwater liability, attorney Allan Gates, of Mitchell Williams, said "everyone expects" the high court to demand a brief from the United States setting out its views on the subject in the coming months. That could force the Trump administration to take a policy stance long before EPA would be able to even propose its new rule or guide. "Everyone's expectation is that the Trump EPA will want to reverse field" from the Obama-era position that groundwater releases that flow into surface waters violate the CWA, Gates said.
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