Supreme Court narrows scope of Clean Water Act : NPR

The United States Supreme Court is seen on May 16.

Alex Brandon/AP

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Alex Brandon/AP

The United States Supreme Court is seen on May 16.

Alex Brandon/AP

The U.S. Supreme Court imposed new restrictions on the scope of the Clean Water Act’s jurisdiction over wetlands, ruling in favor of Idaho landowners who had challenged the law.

The court unanimously found that the land owned by the Idaho family was not subject to the Clean Water Act, but split 5-4 on the court’s new test, which found that only the areas Wetlands that have a continuous surface connection to a body of water are covered by law.

Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh sided with the court’s three liberals. He wrote that “the courts’ new test will leave some long-regulated adjacent wetlands no longer covered by the Clean Water Act, with significant implications for water quality and flood control across the states. United”.

In a second opinion, the court ruled unanimously in favor of an octogenarian resident of Hennepin County, Minnesota, whose home was seized by the county for non-payment of taxes. The county sold the house for more than the amount she owed, and the court ruled that authorities violated her Fifth Amendment rights because she was not properly compensated.