n the first day of its new term, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a long-running dispute over federal water regulation that climate activists argue could leave millions of acres of wetlands unprotected and potentially intensify pollution of America’s water system.
“It’s really hard to overstate how consequential this is for the Clean Water Act,” says Jon Devine, the director of federal water policy at the environmental advocacy group the National Resources Defense Council , which filed a brief in support of the EPA. “This case will likely determine whether tens of millions of acres of wetlands and millions of miles of streams are protected by numerous pollution control programs.
Justice Antonin Scalia and Justice Anthony Kennedy each proposed their own test. Scalia, citing the definition of “waters” in Webster’s Dictionary, argued that the Clean Water Act regulated “relatively permanent, standing or continuously flowing bodies of water,” and did not include channels where water only flowed or drained occasionally.
“The test hasn’t been shown to have any real limitations,” argues Damien M. Schiff, a senior attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation, who represents the Sacketts. “As a consequence, when the EPA and the [Army Corps of Engineers] employ the test, they often end up being converted to something like land use or zoning administrators, which is an unusual rule for a federal agency to occupy.”
What happened to not legislating from the bench?
Come to the US drink SCOTUS approved polluted water and get cancer.
Anyone that relies on clean water should be very interested in the court's ruling. Our municipality relies on three different water sources at any given time. waterislife
This particular Obama era add on to the CWA needs to be overturned. It was poorly conceived and written. It makes any man made ditch, low spot or puddle “waters of the US”. Farmers who have drainage ditches have to get permits, which can take years, to fill, improve or clean.
Most Americans will be living in places that will be facing a permanent state of droughts due to climate change. Nestle etc have been buying water rights to available resources. You will buy water from them, not your utility co. Get ready…
Not too sure about issue but I would still want fed protection for water. Very scary if it went private and companies start charging high prices.
Step aside Rover
Stop the overregulation!
Consider checking this out. Podcast mondaythoughts
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