Supreme Court narrows WOTUS (Waters of the US) definition
Court rules 5-4 in favor of limiting EPA authority.


Joshua Baethge
May 25, 2023

The Supreme Court has limited the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate certain bodies of water. In a 5-4 vote, the Court ruled in favor of an Idaho landowner in the long-running Sackett vs. EPA case.

The Clean Water Act of 1972 gave EPA the authority to regulate navigable waters in the country. At issue is what bodies of water should be considered “Waters of the United States.”

Under the most recent definition of WOTUS issued by the Biden Administration late last year, EPA had the authority to regulate various small bodies of water, including those on private land and farms. The court held that this definition was too broad, and limited EPA’s authority to only wetlands “with a continuous surface connection” to navigable waterways.


The ruling effectively invalidates the Biden WOTUS rule.

This is a developing story.

https://www.farmprogress.com/farm-po...tus-definition