On August 29, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a significant alteration to its definition of ‘waters of the United States’, a term that has long been a point of contention in environmental law and policy. This change was prompted by the Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this year in the case of Sackett v. EPA.
The sifting and reshaping of the definition is a legal maneuver to bring administrative language into closer alignment with the parameters set by the Supreme Court’s decision, which had significant implications for federal environmental law enforcement.
The original definition of ‘waters of the United States’ by the EPA was broad and arguably vague, encompassing a wide range of water sources ranging from small ponds to massive lakes, rivers, and coastal regions. This breadth of definition provided the EPA with significant regulatory power, impacting industries, real estate developers, farmers, and others whose activities could potentially harm these bodies of water.
The Supreme Court’s ruling in Sackett v. EPA arguably narrowed the scope of the EPA’s regulatory jurisdiction by more specifically delineating what constitutes ‘waters of the United States’. A detailed analysis of this ruling can be found here.
With this amendment, there is no doubt that there will be extensive debate and further scrutiny into how this redefinition further shapes the EPA’s role and its enforcement of environmental laws. Professionals in environmental law, real estate, agriculture, and related sectors need to stay abreast of these developments, as they bring significant implications for regulation and compliance.
Further updates and analysis on the EPA’s redefinition can be found here.