Federal - Mining/Environmental

摘要

In Sierra Club v. ICG Hazard, LLC, No. 13-5086,2015 WL 643382 (6th Cir. Jan. 27,2015), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that the Clean Water Act's (CWA) permit shield, 30 U.S.C. § 1342(k), encompasses general permits. The court held that a surface coal mining company whose mining operation was covered by a Kentucky general discharge permit was protected from liability for selenium discharges into sur rounding waters, even though the general permit contained no effluent limitations for selenium. The decision has potentially significant ramifications not only for coal mining operations, but also for all dischargers covered under a CWA general permit.