Free Republic

Two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions are victories for anyone dealing with government administrative agencies, say lawyers interested in the cases. One constitutional scholar warns that the decisions are only the first steps in the fight to maintain our form of democracy. “Administrative power is the greatest threat to our constitutional rights,” Phillip Hamburger, a Columbia University School of Law law professor and CEO of the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), told The Epoch Times. Mr. Hamburger is the author of “Is Administrative Law Unlawful?” a treatise on the dangers of administrative law. Lawyers interviewed by The Epoch Times believe...

The U.S. Supreme Court in a 5–4 decision reined in the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) effort to impose extensive federal land use regulation through its broad interpretation of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The decision in the case of Sackett v. EPA turns on the question of the proper definition of the term "the waters of the United States" (WOTUS). Interestingly, all the justices concurred in the judgment that plaintiffs Michael and Chantell Sackett's property and actions were not covered by the CWA. In the case, the Sacketts had purchased property near Priest Lake, Idaho, and began backfilling the lot...

According to Illinois water laws, not every waterway is open to the public. Complaints from landowners about the public tubing down the river directly past their homes have prompted the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) to review the public's right to access the DuPage River So now, the state is reviewing the use of the river and will determine if public access can continue. According to the Naperville Sun, they attempted to reach the IDNR for comment but did not hear back regarding the specific Dupage River case. Illinois water laws are different than in most other states. You...

On May 25, Rick Moran detailed the plight of California-located Duarte Nursery, being sued by the Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) for ploughing a small portion of a recently-purchased 450-acre farm for the purpose of planting wheat. Mr. Duarte purchased the land in recognition that significant portions were to remain fallow because they were wetlands protected by the Clean Water Act (CWA). But, after planting wheat for harvest in 2013 on a portion determined by a paid consultant not to be such protected wetlands, Mr. Duarte was sued by the Corps for “…not obtaining a permit to discharge dredged or...

The rule defines eight categories of waters of the U.S. Six categories include traditional navigable waters, interstate waters, territorial seas (these three are called “jurisdictional waters”), impoundments of jurisdictional waters, “tributaries,” and “adjacent” waters. These are jurisdictional by rule in all cases, requiring no additional analysis in order to be regulated. To be adjacent, the rule uses the rubric of “neighboring,” which can be met by waters in the 100-year floodplain—meaning land which might be wet one out of every 100 days is a water of the U.S. and can be federally controlled. Texas coastal prairie wetlands are another type...

Film buffs might recognize the Los Angeles River as the gigantic concrete gutter used for car chases in "Grease," "Terminator 2" and other movies. But the river is something else for U.S. EPA: "a traditional navigable water." EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson's declaration of the cement-lined channel today as "navigable" is aimed at allowing her agency to enforce Clean Water Act protections throughout the river's 834-square-mile watershed.

House Democrats pushed forward Wednesday with an effort to delete the word "navigable" from the Clean Water Act - a change that would give the government greater ability to enforce clean-water rules but that opponents said amounts to a federal power grab. "If this bill were to become law, there'd be no body of water in America that wouldn't be at risk of job-killing federal regulation - from farmers' irrigation canals to backyard ponds and streams to mud puddles left by rainstorms," said Rep. Doc Hastings of Washington, the ranking Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee. The Waters Advocacy...