DOJ's Clark Vows To Avoid CWA Enforcement When States File Actions

摘要

Department of Justice (DOJ) environment chief Jeffrey Clark has issued a memo pledging to avoid federal Clean Water Act (CWA) enforcement over violations that states have already acted on - a move he says will avoid "piling on" regulated entities but which one industry source says will make little difference in practice. The July 27 memo signed by Clark, assistant attorney general in DOJ's Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) that litigates on EPA's behalf, generally commits the division to pursuing civil CWA cases only when there has been no state enforcement action "arising from the same operative facts."