SCOTUS ON WOTUS - A New Wetlands Framework

Today’s landmark Sackett vs EPA Supreme Court decision establishes a new framework to determine the jurisdiction of wetlands under the Clean Water Act and limits jurisdiction to only those wetlands with a “continuous surface connection” to traditional waters or their tributaries. This new framework rejects EPA’s more expansive interpretation of which wetlands are regulated under the Clean Water Act and focuses on the actual physical surface connection between wetlands and nearby waters and disregards other potential chemical, ecological, and biological connections.

The Sackett decision will certainly have a profound impact on the real development industry. The parties who will benefit the most from the new curtailed wetlands framework include coastal and industrial/warehouse developers, though there is still more to come on wetlands regulation/permitting as the US Army Corps of Engineers interprets and implements the new Sackett framework.