joe daniel price/Getty Images (WASHINGTON) — A sharply divided Supreme Court on Thursday significantly rolled back federal safeguards for wetlands under the Clean Water Act, siding with Idaho property owners in a decision that curbs Environmental Protection
joe daniel price/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) A sharply divided Supreme Court on Thursday significantly rolled back federal safeguards for wetlands under the Clean Water Act, siding with Idaho property owners in a decision that curbs Environmental Protection Agency power.
The case, Sackett v. EPA, pitted Michael and Chantell Sackett against EPA regulators over a bid to build a family home adjacent to Priest Lake in northern Idaho.
The government said their land qualifies as a protected wetland, requiring an expensive permit for construction, while the family argued that its property is not directly connected to the lake and that the broad EPA regulations are an overreach.
The Clean Water Act of 1972 allows the government to set rules for pollution in "waters of the United States," but for years, the extent to which adjacent wetlands are covered by the law has been hotly debated and unclear.
In 2017, a fractured Supreme Court said that the EPA can regulate any wetlands with
(WASHINGTON) A sharply divided Supreme Court on Thursday significantly rolled back federal safeguards for wetlands under the Clean Water Act, siding with Idaho property owners in a decision that curbs Environmental Protection Agency power. The case, Sackett v. EPA, pitted Michael and Chantell Sackett against EPA regulators over a bid to build a family
joe daniel price/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) A sharply divided Supreme Court on Thursday significantly rolled back federal safeguards for wetlands under the Clean Water Act, siding with Idaho property owners in a decision that curbs Environmental Protection Agency power.
The case, Sackett v. EPA, pitted Michael and Chantell Sackett against EPA regulators over a bid to build a family home adjacent to Priest Lake in northern Idaho.
The government said their land qualifies as a protected wetland, requiring an expensive permit for construction, while the family argued that its property is not directly connected to the lake and that the broad EPA regulations are an overreach.
The Clean Water Act of 1972 allows the government to set rules for pollution in "waters of the United States," but for years, the extent to which adjacent wetlands are covered by the law has been hotly debated and unclear.
In 2017, a fractured Supreme Court said that the EPA can regulate any wetlands with
Environmental advocacy groups say that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling weakening the Clean Water Act will put waters throughout the country at risk of pollution and degradation. The ruling requires a more stringent test to determine if wetlands are protected under the decades-old law. The case, Sackett vs. U.S. EPA, stems from a couple Mike and […]