Environmental Law – Clean Air Act

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Orchard Hill Building Company, et al. v. United States Army Corps of Engineers

Case No.: 17-3403

Officials: BAUER, BARRETT, and ST. EVE, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Environmental Law – Clean Air Act

This case concerns just shy of 13 acres of wetlands, which lie in a south‐suburban plot of land called the Warmke parcel. Orchard Hill Building Company purchased the Warmke parcel in 1995 with plans for a large‐scale residential development. Not wanting to run afoul of the Clean Water Act, Orchard Hill requested a determination from the United States Army Corps of Engineers that the wetlands (or the “Warmke wetlands”) were not jurisdictional “waters of the United States.” The Corps decided that they were, and Orchard Hill has spent the last 12 years challenging that decision. We find that the Corps has not provided substantial evidence of a significant nexus to navigable‐in‐fact waters, and therefore vacate and remand with instructions that the Corps reconsider its determination.

Vacated and Remanded

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.