The Supreme Court questioned whether the Biden administration’s preferred test for determining jurisdiction for wetlands under the Clean Water Act is too broad during oral arguments on Monday.
The justices heard the case of Sackett v. EPA, in which Idaho landowners are challenging the agency’s determination that a property on which they wished to build a home was subject to regulation as one of the “waters of the United States” which fall under federal jurisdiction under the act.
The 2006 verdict in the case of Rapanos v. United States resulted in a splinter 4-1-4 ruling that provided two different tests for determining which wetlands and other waterways are protected under the CWA. The Sacketts, represented by the conservative nonprofit Pacific Legal Foundation, are asking the court to hold to a narrower definition favored by industry and farming groups.
