Supreme Court Decision Narrows the Scope of EPA Water Protections

The Supreme Court has narrowed which waters are subject to federal protections under the Clean Water Act, limiting the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority in terms of where it can implement safeguards.

In the decision, the court ruled that in order for a wetland to receive protection, it needs to have a “continuous surface connection” with a protected body of water, making the two areas “indistinguishable” from one another.

In addition — it narrows the definition of which of those other waters can be protected, saying that regulations apply only to those that are “relatively permanent, standing or continuously flowing.”

Read the source article at thehill.com