SCOTUS Rules on Waters of the United States Regulation

On May 25^th, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling in favor of the Sackett family, allowing them to build their home on previously protected wetlands.  For 16 years, the Sacketts where in legal battles with the EPA over whether the wetlands they planned to build their home on was protected by the Clean Water Act, called the waters of the United States (WOTUS).  While SCOTUS unanimously ruled in favor of the Sacketts, the reasoning was split 5-4, with Justice Kavanaugh joining the three Liberal justices in writing the dissenting reasoning behind the ruling.  In the Majority reasoning, the Justices decided the Clean Water Act did not apply to wetlands with “continuous surface connection” to bigger regulated bodies of water.  The minority reasoning wrote how the court’s decision will mean that long-regulated wetlands will no longer be protected under the Clean Water Act, which the dissenting Justices explained will lead to “significant repercussions” for the water quality and flood control in the US.  The ramifications of this decision are not immediately known but will cause the Biden administration to reverse their attempt to protect wetlands and small water ways.  In a tweet on May 25^th, Biden called SCOTUS’s decision “backward”, and explained his administration will work with the Justice Department to review the legal authorities the administration has to protect the nation’s waters.