Supreme Court unanimously deals a BLOW to the White House

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While this isn’t the final blow, the Supreme Court just ruled unanimously that landowners can now appeal EPA rulings with respect to the Clean Water Act through the federal court system:

THE HILL – The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled against the Obama administration in a case regarding water pollution permits.

The nation’s highest court ruled unanimously that a landowner can appeal through the federal court system a determination from the Army Corps of Engineers that a water body is subject to federal jurisdiction and permit requirements under the Clean Water Act.

The court’s eight justices agreed in Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co. Inc. that the Corps’ final “jurisdictional determination” regarding a peat mining company’s wetlands is a “final agency action,” and the company can challenge it like any regulation.
The case is likely to have consequences for the federal government’s entire enforcement of the Clean Water Act, the main law regarding pollution control.

The Corps and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have dual enforcement authority for water pollution, but only if they determine that the water at issue falls under the “waters of the United States” standard. That determination means the landowner needs federal permits for any activity that would pollution or otherwise harm the water body.

So what this means is the landowners now have a potential check against the onerous and authoritarian rulings of the EPA when they try to control our lands because it has a puddle on it, telling us what we can and cannot due because of the Clean Water Act regulation.

Honestly, I’m surprised the activist judges on the court actually ruled this way. But I’m glad they did. Congress needs to get rid of the EPA and let the states deal with this henceforth.


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