Posted on 01/26/2022 5:44:44 PM PST by where's_the_Outrage?
The Supreme Court agreed this week to hear a case brought by two Idaho residents who have fought the Environmental Protection Agency for years over a wetland on their property. This isn’t just a simple case of some long-suffering landowners, though; it’s one that is backed by industry interests. And with the Court in an ultra-conservative phase, the case could totally reshape how waterways across the U.S. are protected from pollution.
“There’s a range of outcomes [to the case], all of which are bad,” said Dave Owen, a professor of environmental law at the University of Califonia, Hastings.
The case is centered around the Clean Water Act, a landmark piece of legislation passed in 1972 that regulates water pollution. Under the act, it’s illegal to pollute what it calls “navigable waters” without a permit. The act itself doesn’t define exactly what “navigable waters” are, though. In subsequent years, the term has generated a lot of debate and confusion. A lake is clearly navigable, but what about a wetland? Or a stream that disappears in the dry season but comes raging back with the rainy season?
Science, of course, increasingly shows that all kinds of waters—not just those visibly connected to lakes and streams—are crucial to maintaining water quality. “More and more scientists are realizing that the quality of water and level of flows in bigger waterways is determined to a large degree by what happens in the headwaters, what happens in those upstream streams and wetlands,” Owen said. “Treating them as not part of a larger waterway is like saying that leaves are not part of a tree.”
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
The court is not in an ultra conservative stage.
What crapola.
That tells me that the government over-stepped its bounds in an egregious way and any halfway decent court will have no choice but to reign in the regulations.
“Science, of course” Of course!
It always cracks me up when the journalisiming gets this strong.
“Science, of course” Of course!
It always cracks me up when the journalisiming gets this strong.
Precisely.
By “navigable waterways”, Congress never meant to allow the EPA authority to regulate every mudhole, cattle pond, and dry creek bed in the US.
LOL!
It is how the government takes your land and does not pay you....like the endangered species act....like New York State banning fracking..
Well, guess what? They’re only interpreting two words in a law. If Congress wished to make it clearer, they have the power to do so.
True. Have a wet year and get water in a low spot in your pasture. Ka -Ching! Wet land! Then the effing Feds show up like a bad STD. Oh yeah, just as hard to get rid of too. A lot in this law is bad. The FEDS make it worse.
Fairy shrimp in the hoof prints
Don’t worry about the water shed, all the Liberal tears over this case will recharge the water shed with Unicorn H2O, which the Fairy Queen will bless for all creatures bid and small…..
By “navigable waterways”, Congress never meant to allow the EPA authority to regulate every mudhole, cattle pond, and dry creek bed in the US.
That depends upon who controlled Congress at that time, and who would benefit from the Act. (Never underestimate the corruption in government; if nothing else, it helped contribute to a whole bunch of new bureaucrats, which is never a good thing.)
I believe it will allow common sense to prevail.
It’s bias and propaganda, all day, every day. When the game of Cowboys and demo-commies starts, the media should be the first demo-commies in the game.
The Revolution is always the issue.
Trump rolled back WOTUS provisions. Too bad Congress couldn’t pass a law banning the largest Federal land grab in history h/t Zippy Duval
Well at least the author didn’t the Romneyesque description “severely conservative” for the USSC.
Well at least the author didn’t use the Romneyesque description “severely conservative” for the USSC.
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