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Steph Tai

Professor of Law

Allison Stevens, Laurie Ristino, Maggie Dewane, Steph Tai, Victor Flatt | June 24, 2021

CPR Scholars Call for ‘Vigilant Advocacy’ to Protect LGBTQ Gains

The Center for Progressive Reform stands with all who are working to advance equity and equality for LGBTQ Americans. To commemorate Pride Month, we asked three CPR leaders to weigh in on progress in this area.

Karrigan Bork, Steph Tai, Thomas Harter | May 1, 2020

Supreme Court Ruling Finds Old, New Middle Ground on Clean Water Act’s Application to Groundwater

Last week, the Supreme Court decided a case involving discharge from a wastewater reclamation facility owned and operated by the County of Maui, which discharged 3 to 5 million gallons of treated wastewater per day into four injection wells about half a mile from the ocean. Recent research showed that much of the injected waste eventually discharges to the ocean. Environmental groups sued the county for not obtaining a Clean Water Act permit, arguing that point source discharge of pollutants that eventually reach surface water is governed under the Act. Justice Breyer, writing for the Court majority, wrote "we do not see how Congress could have intended to create such a large and obvious loop hole in one of the key regulatory innovations of the Clean Water Act." On the "fairly traceable" approach, the opinion stated that such interpretation "would require a permit in surprising, even bizarre circumstances".