Monday June 27, 2022
WaterWorld —
The Waterkeeper Alliance, San Francisco Baykeeper, Bayou City Waterkeeper, and 47 additional Waterkeeper groups from across the country have filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court today to defend the Clean Water Act (CWA) from efforts to substantially narrow the definition of federally protected waters.
An amicus brief is a letter offering insight to a legal case, written by organizations that are not directly part of the case. Specifically, the advocates are arguing in support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the case Sackett v. EPA, and asking the Supreme Court to uphold the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling about the scope of wetlands protected under the landmark environmental law.
“The Waters of the United States need strong and uniform protections, which Congress intended with the Clean Water Act, in order to create and maintain a healthy network of waterways,” said Eric Buescher, Senior Staff Attorney with San Francisco Baykeeper. “Shattering water quality laws across countless state and local jurisdictions will lead to a nationwide patchwork of sacrifice zones.”
The central question in Sackett v. EPA, which the Supreme Court will hear this fall, is what standard should apply to determine protection for wetlands that are adjacent to traditional navigable waters and their tributaries. The petitioners in the appeal have asked the Supreme Court to overturn the Ninth Circuit’s ruling that adjacent wetlands, including those on their Idaho property, merit federal protection, which would advance a narrow interpretation of the CWA.