Feds Stick To Scaled-back Clean Water Act

In a new interpretation of the Clean Water Act announced today, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers said the federal government would exercise its Clean Water Act authority only over navigable rivers and lakes, and those streams and wetlands that navigable water rely on to be sustained. The ruling leaves many wetlands with no protection. Landowners, developers and local governments can fill or drain those waterways unless state or local laws protect them. The United States has seen about half of its wetlands filled, by many estimates. There has been great confusion about the jurisdiction of the federal government over water that doesn't cross state lines and isn't used for commercial traffic. In 2001, the Supreme Court said the government did not have the right to regulate small, isolated wetlands unless they were connected to navigable water, and a more recent ruling muddied the waters further. That statement reiterated and firmed-up a policy that had more or less been in place for years. Many analysts say the confusion remains great enough that Congress ought to step in and re-write the portion of the Clean Water Act dealing with smaller and isolated wetlands. These water bodies are important for many environmental reasons -- from local water quality and flood control to wildlife habitat and hunting grounds -- but those considerations were not written explicitly into the justification for the law. For more information about today's decision, visit this EPA Web page.