This spring, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider a case involving the definition of Waters of the United States. This case is called Sackett versus EPA. The Sacketts are an Idaho couple who would like to build a house, but can’t, because the EPA says there’s a wetland on the property. The Sacketts appeared in front of the Supreme Court in 2012. Since then, there’s been conflicting interpretations of WOTUS under the Clean Water Act. Now the Supreme Court will determine whether a decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals used the proper tests to determine whether wetlands were Waters of the United States. Rinke-Noonan attorney Kale Van Bruggen is surprised the Supreme Court will take up the case at the same time EPA is trying to redefine WOTUS. “How the Supreme Court’s decision might impact the concurrent rulemaking by the agency will be the key takeaway from the case.” Van Bruggen thinks it will be interesting to see if the Supreme Court case slows down EPA issuing the new WOTUS rule.
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