North Dakota Farmers Watching Closely? May 25, 2023

Locator: 44755EPA.
Locator: 44755CWA.

Maybe more on this later.

Breaking.

THE SUPREME COURT LIMITED the reach of the Clean Water Act, with a majority holding that only wetlands that have a continuous surface connection to a river, lake, or other major waterway are covered by the law, Greg Stohr reports.

In a split on reasoning, the court said there wasn’t enough of a connection to a nearby lake from the land owned by the Sacketts to require a permit under the Clean Water Act. “We hold that the CWA extends to only those wetlands that are as a practical matter indistinguishable from waters of the United States,” Justice Samuel Alito, wrote for five members of the court.

The court’s three liberal justices and Justice Brett Kavanaugh said they would have agreed with the Sacketts but on narrower grounds. The Biden administration had argued that the tributary across the road brought the land within the purview of the Clean Water Act.

The decision, a victory for property-rights advocates, could let developers build more new homes and give companies a freer hand in the discharge of pollutants without getting federal approval.

Link here. 

The US Supreme Court didn't "roll back" anything. It interpreted the law, focusing on the phrase "extends to all navigable waters."

The SCOTUS ruling came close to being a unanimous ruling in favor of ND farmers.