Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center (U.S. No. 11-338 and 11-347)
The question before the U.S. Supreme Court in Decker was whether channeled stormwater runoff from industrial logging operations is subject to the permitting requirements of the Clean Water Act. In October 2012, the Clinic filed an amicus brief on behalf of a professor of forest road engineering that described the ways in which the construction, operation, and maintenance of logging roads and associated drainage structures are integral parts of an industrial activity—namely, mechanized forestry.