Company: PED
Filing Date: 2025-03-31
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001654954-25-003703
Chunk: 263

Company: PEDEVCO CORP
Filing Date: 2025-03-31
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 263
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”) incorporated “relatively permanent” and “significant nexus” standards for determining jurisdiction over adjacent wetlands and additional waters, thereby expanding the types of waters that could be considered WOTUS. However, this WOTUS definition was litigated and eventually amended on August 29, 2023, when the EPA and USACE issued a final rule to conform the WOTUS definition to the U.S. Supreme Court’s May 25, 2023, decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, which invalidated parts of the January 2023 Rule. With the August 2023 rulemaking, the EPA and USACE implemented a narrower definition of WOTUS by, for example, removing “interstate wetlands”; redefining “adjacent” to mean “having a continuous surface connection”; and removing the “significant nexus” standard from the provisions regarding tributaries, adjacent wetlands, and intrastate lakes and ponds. To the extent any litigation or future amendments to the rule expand the scope of the Clean Water Act’s jurisdiction, the Company could face increased costs and delays with respect to obtaining permits for dredge and fill activities in wetland areas or in connection with stream crossings and preparation and implementation of oil spill prevention, control, and countermeasure (“SPCC”) plans.

The primary federal law related specifically to oil spill liability is the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (“OPA”), which amends and augments the oil spill provisions of the CWA and imposes certain duties and liabilities on certain “responsible parties” related to the prevention of oil spills and damages resulting from such spills in or threatening waters of the United States or adjoining shorelines. In addition, operators of certain oil and natural gas facilities must develop, implement and maintain facility response plans, conduct annual spill training for certain employees and provide varying degrees of financial assurance. Owners or operators of a facility, vessel or pipeline that is a source of an oil discharge or that poses a substantial threat of discharge is one type of “responsible party” who is liable. The OPA applies joint and several liability, without regard to fault, to each liable party for oil removal costs and a variety of public and private damages. Although defenses exist, they are limited. As such, a violation of the OPA has the potential to adversely affect the Company’s operations.

SPCC regulations promulgated under the CWA and later amended by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 require operators of certain oil and natural gas facilities that store oil in more than