TBA Law Blog

TBA Law Blog

U.S. Supreme Court Rules Against EPA Wetlands Regulation

Posted by: Paul Burch on May 25, 2023
News Type: U.S. Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court in a 9-0 decision announced today agreed to reverse a lower court's decision that had prevented an Idaho couple from building a home on property the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had deemed protected under the Clean Water Act of 1972, Reuters reports. The court held the law covers only wetlands “with a continuous surface connection” to those waters, wrote Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. for five justices. Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, in a concurring opinion with the court’s more liberal justices, said the decision would harm the EPA’s ability to combat pollution. The Clean Water Act bars discharging pollutants into the "waters of the United States," which regulators have said covers navigable waters as well as adjacent wetlands like swamps and marshes. Both courts and regulators have issued conflicting rulings on how much of a connection to a waterway is legal to allow for a building permit.

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