Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Inc. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

MEMORANDUM OPINION

WILLIAM M. ACKER, JR., District Judge.

Plaintiffs instituted this action to challenge the 2012 reissuance of Nationwide Permit 21 (“NWP 21”), a five-year general permit issued pursuant to the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1344(e) (“CWA”). NWP 21 authorizes surface coal mining operations to discharge dredged or fill material into waters of the United States if the operations meet certain requirements. In the 2012 version of NWP 21, the requirements differ for operations that were authorized under the previous general permit. Plaintiffs claim that the different requirements for…