Global Courant 2023-05-26 05:24:00
Judge Brett Kavanaugh wrote a concurring opinion and was joined by the liberal wing of the court.Tom Williams-Pool/Getty Images
A Supreme Court ruling on Thursday undermines the EPA’s authority to regulate under the Clean Water Act.
Every conservative judge except Brett Kavanaugh signed on for the majority opinion.
Kavanaugh said the majority ignored precedent and endangered water quality in the US.
The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a ruling that will limit the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to protect wetlands and address water pollution, with all but one of the conservative justices, Brett Kavanaughsign it.
The case involved an Idaho couple who wanted to build a home on their property, but the EPA determined that the land included wetlands protected under the Clean Water Actsubjecting it to the oversight of the agency.
All nine justices agreed that the couple’s land should not have been subject to regulation, but four justices — the liberal wing and Kavanaugh — strongly disagreed with some of the justices. majority decisionwritten by Alito, which may affect what exactly counts as protected “waters of the United States.”
The majority ruling determined that the Clean Water Act has no authority to regulate wetlands unless they have “continuous surface connection” to larger bodies of water. That can exclude wetlands, bogs, and swamps that border a body of water if they aren’t exactly connected to the surface and were previously considered protected.
Some environmental movements and experts estimate the decision could lift protection from nearly half of all wetlands in the US.
Kavanaugh’s concurring opinion, signed by the liberal justices, said the “new majority test to assess when wetlands fall under the Clean Water Act” violates the law, deviates from decades of agency practice and in contradicts the precedent set by the Supreme Court. Court itself.
“By limiting the scope of the law of wetlands to only contiguous wetlands, the Court’s new test will ensure that some long-regulated contiguous wetlands are no longer covered by the Clean Water Act, with significant implications for water quality and flood control in the United States. States,” Kavanaugh wrote.
Story continues
In addition to joining Kavanaugh, the liberal justices also signed a concurring opinion written by Justice Elena Kagan raising concerns that the Supreme Court is overstepping the authority of Congress when it comes to environmental policy. She quoted a statement from last year limited the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gases and tackling climate change.
In another concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas suggested he’d be interested in curbing the EPA’s authority even further, writing “wetlands are just the beginning of the issues raised by the agencies’ assertion of jurisdiction in this matter.”
Read the original article Business Insider
