On May 25, the Supreme Court issued its decision on Sackett v. EPA, No. 24-454 (2022). Assistant Professor Adam D. Orford, whose interdisciplinary research investigates legal and policy approaches to environmental protection, has shared his thoughts on the implications of this decision below.
“Today, the Supreme Court significantly curtailed the scope of the federal government's regulatory jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act, excluding millions of acres of previously regulated wetlands from federal oversight, and potentially reducing the number of surface water bodies under federal protection. This decision, which is consistent with recent Supreme Court precedent reading federal environmental laws very narrowly, shifts the decision about whether to protect newly non-federal wetlands and other waterbodies over to the states, many of which will favor real estate development over environmental protection. Lacking further federal legislation, the decision will significantly reduce U.S. EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regulatory oversight of land-disturbing activities.”
Orford previously discussed the case at http://law.uga.edu/news/77752.