{"id":33044,"date":"2023-06-15T00:01:14","date_gmt":"2023-06-15T04:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=33044"},"modified":"2024-10-24T20:20:54","modified_gmt":"2024-10-25T00:20:54","slug":"recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/","title":{"rendered":"Recent Supreme Court Ruling on Clean Water Act \u201cwill take our country backwards\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

(<\/span>Beyond Pesticides, <\/span><\/i>June 15, 2023)<\/span> The Supreme Court\u2019s recent ruling in <\/span>Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency<\/span><\/i><\/a> (EPA) <\/span><\/i>on the Clean Water Act\u2019s jurisdiction dramatically limits the EPA\u2019s ability to protect critical <\/span>wetland ecosystems.<\/span><\/a> On May 25, in a 5-4 majority decision, the Supreme Court ruled that EPA has authority to protect only \u201cwetlands with a continuous surface connection to bodies that are \u2018waters of the United States\u2019 in their own right.\u201d Wetlands must appear \u201cindistinguishable\u201d from larger waterways at a surface-level perspective. Wetlands next to a large waterway are no longer protected if they are separated by a manmade or terrestrial barrier. Water flows underground from upstream to downstream sources and exits the confines of its customary boundaries during periods of flooding, so to declare waterways distinct based merely on a surface-level perspective defies scientific understanding of ecosystem health.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Critical Nature of Wetland Ecology\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The conservation of wetland ecology is <\/span>critical<\/span><\/a> to the health of our environment. The <\/span>United States Geological Survey<\/span><\/a> (USGS) states, \u201cWetlands are among the most productive habitats on earth\u201d given their role in flood resilience, improvement in water quality, and coastal erosion control. Wetlands are essential nursery grounds for many species of fish and oases for migratory birds en route to their final destinations.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Not only are <\/span>wetlands<\/span><\/a> one of the most <\/span>crucial<\/span><\/a> ecosystems on the planet, but they are also particularly <\/span>vulnerable<\/span><\/a> to stressors such as habitat loss, pollution, and climate change. Both sea level rise and rapid human development are quickening the pace of their disappearance. Upstream runoff can carry destructive chemical pesticides and fertilizers that wreak havoc on downstream ecosystems. Many wetlands are brackish, meaning they are a mixture of fresh- and saltwater. When sea levels rise, coastal wetlands are inundated with massive amounts of seawater, throwing off their careful salt concentrations and spelling out death for organisms reliant on a narrow range of water chemistry.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

History of Clean Water Act and Court Cases\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clean Water Act (CWA)<\/span><\/a> has played an integral role in the preservation of environmental health over the last few decades. Prior to the passing of CWA, jurisdiction of the nation\u2019s waterways was left in the hands of the states and very few regulations were imposed. The federal government finally took action after Ohio\u2019s <\/span>Cuyahoga River<\/span><\/a> spontaneously caught fire in 1969 due to a substantial amount of pollution in the waters. Passed in 1972, CWA \u201caimed to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological <\/span>integrity<\/span><\/a> of the nation\u2019s waters.\u201d The law forbids \u201cunpermitted discharges of pollutants to \u2018navigable waters,\u2019\u201d which are defined as <\/span>\u201cthe waters of the United States.\u201d<\/span><\/a> A few years later, authority was broadened to encompass waters \u201cadjacent\u201d to navigable waterways. <\/span>CWA sets industrial<\/span><\/a> wastewater standards<\/span><\/a>, requires a strict permitting process regarding wetland development, and outlines safety limits for contaminant concentrations in drinking water. EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers are tasked with the protection of wetlands and enforcement of CWA regulations to defend water quality against polluting industries.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the <\/span>success of the CWA<\/span><\/a> in improving the quality of waterways, decades-long debates have pitted politicians against each other over the ambiguity of exactly which \u201cwaters of the United States\u201d fall under EPA jurisdiction. Under constitutional law, the legislative branch is granted the power to regulate interstate commerce. This detail found in <\/span>Article I, Section 8<\/span><\/a>, allows a federal agency (e.g., EPA) to impose waterway regulations within states since \u201cnavigable waters\u201d play an important role in interstate commerce. Historically, wetlands neighboring a large waterway, despite an interrupted surface connection, were under EPA\u2019s jurisdiction. Even the smallest creeks, however, run downstream to larger lakes and rivers, so many believe the original wording of CWA does not clearly portray the extent of the EPA\u2019s authority. EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers often consider potential regulatory infractions on a case-by-case basis, but court cases in years since have attempted to clarify these uncertainties.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One such landmark case brought before the <\/span>Supreme Court<\/span><\/a> in 2006, <\/span>Rapanos v. United States, <\/span><\/i>highlighted key issues related to CWA\u2019s scope in a case brought by a land developer. Half of the Court supported a broad interpretation of \u201cwaters of the United States\u201d that includes smaller tributaries that eventually flow into larger bodies of water. The opposing justices, led by Justice Antonin Scalia, favored more limited EPA authority, arguing for the protection of what they referred to as only \u201ctraditionally navigable waters\u201d or those \u201cindistinguishable\u201d from such. To qualify, neighboring tributaries would have to be \u201crelatively permanent\u201d bodies of water with a \u201ccontinuous surface connection\u201d or uninterrupted by any terrestrial barriers. A contentious case, the ruling concluded with a 4-1-4 plurality. The court finally decided on a resolution by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the concurring vote, in which he deemed EPA jurisdiction extending to \u201ctraditionally navigable waters,\u201d as well as any U.S. waters serving as a \u201csignificant nexus,\u201d meaning wetlands that \u201ceither alone or in combination with similarly situated lands in the region, significantly affect the chemical, physical, and biological integrity\u201d of the navigable waters. Ambiguity, however, remained, as one could endlessly debate what qualifies as \u201csignificant.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2015, the <\/span>Obama administration<\/span><\/a> took a position on the not fully defined language of the amended CWA. The administration\u2019s stance, known as WOTUS (waters of the United States), and later the Clean Water Rule, asserts that any waterway active for at least part of the year (implying seasonally flowing or ephemeral streams) qualifies as a protected wetland and is therefore under EPA jurisdiction. EPA had spent years studying the effects of upstream pollutants on downstream waters and, based on its in-depth scientific reports, found that protecting all tributaries and wetlands is necessary to the preservation of the quality and health of larger waterways. This position generated immediate backlash, as the industrial, mining, and agricultural sectors, as well as property rights activists, fought the protection of seasonally active waterways. The rule was <\/span>stayed in federal court<\/span><\/a> as <\/span>lawsuits<\/span><\/a> began piling up in states around the country, and the administration looked to adjust the rule in response.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The statutory intent of CWA was then entirely turned upside down with the Trump administration. In a 2019 reversal of Obama-era protections, the <\/span>Trump administration<\/span><\/a> maintained that justices led by Scalia in the <\/span>Rapanos<\/span><\/i> case had gotten it right, limiting protections to tributaries with a direct surface connection to larger waterways.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In an attempt to compromise, the <\/span>Biden administration<\/span><\/a> set standards similar to those prior to 2015, falling between the broad protections of the Obama administration and the extremely limited protections of the Trump administration. This approach meshes \u201ctraditional navigable waters\u201d with adjacent waterways, including \u201cinterstate waterways and upstream water sources that influence the health and quality of those waterways.\u201d With this interpretation, a small land divide does not render two nearby wetlands separate. Environmentalists generally support this effort and affirm that this rule is \u201ccentral to efforts to restore the health of impaired waterways and fragile wildlife habitats because it gives federal and state governments powers to limit the flow of pollutants, including livestock waste, construction runoff and industrial effluent.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Present-Day Supreme Court Case\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

So now for the <\/span>case at hand<\/span><\/a>: Chantell and Michael Sackett, a couple beginning construction of a house on an area of wetlands near Priest Lake in Idaho, were alerted by EPA that their land fell under the protection of CWA. The Sackett\u2019s disagreed with the EPA\u2019s stance and took the issue to court. After the case made its way to the Supreme Court, the justices concluded that the Sacketts\u2019 land did not fall under the protections granted by CWA and then curtailed the reach of the law by limiting CWA to larger bodies of water, such as lakes and oceans.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Objecting to the perspective of the majority, Justice Elena Kahan, joined by Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Brett M. Kavanaugh, compares this case to one last year limiting <\/span>EPA\u2019s authority<\/span><\/a> to limit greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. In both cases, the Court voted to vastly <\/span>limit the EPA\u2019s jurisdiction<\/span><\/a>, with dangerous implications for the future health and safety of people and the planet.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Consequences of the Ruling<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The dissenting justices highlight the destructive effects this ruling will have on nationwide water quality and flood control, as EPA is now drastically limited in its \u201cability to extend protections to upstream waters in order to protect downstream water quality for drinking and wildlife.\u201d Wetlands are a filtration system, trapping many pollutants and preventing them from traveling downstream into major waterways. Advocates say that this will cause broad adverse effects, from the <\/span>Everglades<\/span><\/a> to maintenance on the levee systems along the Mississippi River to cleanup projects along the Chesapeake Bay. According to some estimates, about 50% of wetlands will lose federal protection. The environmental law firm Earthjustice estimates that federal protections will be withheld from <\/span>118 million acres of wetlands<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

President Biden has warned that the Supreme Court decision \u201cwill take our country backwards,\u201d and assured the public he will continue to fight for clean water. In his statement, the President continued, \u201cToday\u2019s decision upends the legal framework that has protected America\u2019s water for decades. It also defies the science that confirms the critical role of wetlands in safeguarding our nation\u2019s stream, rivers, and lakes from chemicals and pollutants that harm the health and wellbeing of children, families, and communities.\u201d EPA Administrator Michael Regan said that the ruling has \u201cripped the heart out of the law.\u201d The Natural Resources Defense Council cited the \u201cincalculable harm\u201d that will come of the decision.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Multiple <\/span>legal observers<\/span><\/a> predict that the two court rulings in the past year regarding the EPA\u2019s authority under the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts may be the start of a pattern of restrictions on federal authority in the environmental sector. At a time when an <\/span>immediate response to climate change and chemical pollution is more urgent than ever<\/span><\/a>, these decisions are seen by environmentalists and public health advocates as undermining action necessary for a sustainable future by opening the door to widespread and unrestricted contamination of wetlands and waterways necessary to support life.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you want to learn more about the dangers of water contamination, take a look at Beyond Pesticides\u2019 webpage on <\/span>Threatened Waters: Turning the Tide on Pesticide Contamination<\/span><\/a>. Click <\/span>here<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>here<\/span><\/a> to read past articles Beyond Pesticides has written on the issue.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sources: <\/span>Supremecourt.gov<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Beyond Pesticides, June 15, 2023) The Supreme Court\u2019s recent ruling in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the Clean Water Act\u2019s jurisdiction dramatically limits the EPA\u2019s ability to protect critical wetland ecosystems. On May 25, in a 5-4 majority decision, the Supreme Court ruled that EPA has authority to protect only \u201cwetlands with a continuous surface connection to bodies that are \u2018waters of the United States\u2019 in their own right.\u201d Wetlands must appear \u201cindistinguishable\u201d from larger waterways at a surface-level perspective. Wetlands next to a large waterway are no longer protected if they are separated by a manmade or terrestrial barrier. Water flows underground from upstream to downstream sources and exits the confines of its customary boundaries during periods of flooding, so to declare waterways distinct based merely on a surface-level perspective defies scientific understanding of ecosystem health.\u00a0 Critical Nature of Wetland Ecology\u00a0 The conservation of wetland ecology is critical to the health of our environment. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) states, \u201cWetlands are among the most productive habitats on earth\u201d given their role in flood resilience, improvement in water quality, and coastal erosion control. Wetlands are essential nursery grounds for many species of fish and oases for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33046,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1775,539,350,570,519,565,354,518,62,9,508,1726,12,324],"tags":[680,645,683,690,691,688,605,692,643,687,604,637,689,685,1777,686,681,682,684],"class_list":["post-33044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clean-water-act","category-climate","category-contamination-2","category-department-of-justice","category-drinking-water","category-ecosystem-services","category-environmental-protection-agency-epa","category-groundwater","category-litigation","category-national-politics","category-u-s-geological-survey","category-u-s-supreme-court","category-water","category-water-regulation","tag-clean-water-act","tag-climate","tag-contamination","tag-drinking-water","tag-ecosystem-services","tag-environmental-protection-agency","tag-epa","tag-groundwater","tag-health","tag-lakes","tag-lawsuit","tag-policy","tag-pollutants","tag-rivers","tag-sackett","tag-streams","tag-supreme-court","tag-water","tag-wetlands"],"yoast_head":"\nRecent Supreme Court Ruling on Clean Water Act \u201cwill take our country backwards\u201d - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Supreme Court\u2019s recent ruling in Sackett v. EPA on the Clean Water Act dramatically limits the EPA\u2019s ability to protect critical wetland ecosystems.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Recent Supreme Court Ruling on Clean Water Act \u201cwill take our country backwards\u201d - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Supreme Court\u2019s recent ruling in Sackett v. EPA on the Clean Water Act dramatically limits the EPA\u2019s ability to protect critical wetland ecosystems.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-15T04:01:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-10-25T00:20:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DN-6.14.23.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"340\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Beyond Pesticides\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ByondPesticides\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ByondPesticides\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Beyond Pesticides\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Beyond Pesticides\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b5c0a0981b549cc5b628770073031f4\"},\"headline\":\"Recent Supreme Court Ruling on Clean Water Act \u201cwill take our country backwards\u201d\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-15T04:01:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-25T00:20:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/\"},\"wordCount\":1751,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DN-6.14.23.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Clean Water Act\",\"climate\",\"contamination\",\"drinking water\",\"ecosystem services\",\"Environmental Protection Agency\",\"EPA\",\"groundwater\",\"health\",\"lakes\",\"Lawsuit\",\"policy\",\"pollutants\",\"rivers\",\"Sackett\",\"streams\",\"Supreme Court\",\"water\",\"wetlands\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Clean Water Act\",\"Climate\",\"contamination\",\"Department of Justice\",\"Drinking Water\",\"Ecosystem Services\",\"Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)\",\"Groundwater\",\"Litigation\",\"National Politics\",\"U.S. Geological Survey\",\"U.S. Supreme Court\",\"Water\",\"Water Regulation\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/\",\"name\":\"Recent Supreme Court Ruling on Clean Water Act \u201cwill take our country backwards\u201d - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DN-6.14.23.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-15T04:01:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-25T00:20:54+00:00\",\"description\":\"The Supreme Court\u2019s recent ruling in Sackett v. EPA on the Clean Water Act dramatically limits the EPA\u2019s ability to protect critical wetland ecosystems.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DN-6.14.23.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DN-6.14.23.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":340},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Recent Supreme Court Ruling on Clean Water Act \u201cwill take our country backwards\u201d\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/\",\"name\":\"Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\",\"description\":\"News on Pesticide Science, Policy and Activism\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Beyond Pesticides\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeyondPesticides-Logo-Stacked-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeyondPesticides-Logo-Stacked-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":2501,\"caption\":\"Beyond Pesticides\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/ByondPesticides\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/beyondpesticides\/?hl=en\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/beyond-pesticides\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/bpncamp\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b5c0a0981b549cc5b628770073031f4\",\"name\":\"Beyond Pesticides\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26b7558fcb265e244c6e159abe5f0aab551822dc82fd0b1607e809bdfbed20a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26b7558fcb265e244c6e159abe5f0aab551822dc82fd0b1607e809bdfbed20a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Beyond Pesticides\"},\"description\":\"Beyond Pesticides is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., which works with allies in protecting public health and the environment to lead the transition to a world free of toxic pesticides. The founders, who established Beyond Pesticides (originally as National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides) as a nonprofit membership organization in 1981, felt that without the existence of such an organized, national network, local, state and national pesticide policy would become, under chemical industry pressure, increasingly unresponsive to public health and environmental concerns. Beyond Pesticides believes that people must have a voice in decisions that affect them directly. We believe decisions should not be made for us by chemical companies or by decision-makers who either do not have all of the facts or refuse to consider them. Learn more about our work, read A Year in Review\u20142021, our accomplishments are your victories! Beyond Pesticides seeks to protect healthy air, water, land, and food for ourselves and future generations. By forging ties with governments, nonprofits, and people who rely on these natural resources, we reduce the need for unnecessary pesticide use and protect public health and the environment. Beyond Pesticides provides hands-on services to the public and supports local action by: identifying and interpreting hazards; and, designing safe pest management programs. With the information provided by Beyond Pesticides, people may not only be able to make informed choices and adopt practices that protect themselves and their families from unnecessary exposure to pesticides, but they will be able to effect changes on community-wide pest management decisions and policies that govern pesticide use, such as pesticide uses in parks, schools, for community insect control and along roadsides. Beyond Pesticides believes that people must have a voice in decisions which affect them directly.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.beyondpesticides.org\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/beyondpesticides\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/beyond-pesticides\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/ByondPesticides\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/bpncamp\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/author\/beyond-pesticides\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Recent Supreme Court Ruling on Clean Water Act \u201cwill take our country backwards\u201d - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","description":"The Supreme Court\u2019s recent ruling in Sackett v. EPA on the Clean Water Act dramatically limits the EPA\u2019s ability to protect critical wetland ecosystems.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Recent Supreme Court Ruling on Clean Water Act \u201cwill take our country backwards\u201d - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","og_description":"The Supreme Court\u2019s recent ruling in Sackett v. EPA on the Clean Water Act dramatically limits the EPA\u2019s ability to protect critical wetland ecosystems.","og_url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/","og_site_name":"Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\/","article_published_time":"2023-06-15T04:01:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-10-25T00:20:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":340,"url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DN-6.14.23.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Beyond Pesticides","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ByondPesticides","twitter_site":"@ByondPesticides","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Beyond Pesticides","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/"},"author":{"name":"Beyond Pesticides","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b5c0a0981b549cc5b628770073031f4"},"headline":"Recent Supreme Court Ruling on Clean Water Act \u201cwill take our country backwards\u201d","datePublished":"2023-06-15T04:01:14+00:00","dateModified":"2024-10-25T00:20:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/"},"wordCount":1751,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DN-6.14.23.jpg","keywords":["Clean Water Act","climate","contamination","drinking water","ecosystem services","Environmental Protection Agency","EPA","groundwater","health","lakes","Lawsuit","policy","pollutants","rivers","Sackett","streams","Supreme Court","water","wetlands"],"articleSection":["Clean Water Act","Climate","contamination","Department of Justice","Drinking Water","Ecosystem Services","Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)","Groundwater","Litigation","National Politics","U.S. Geological Survey","U.S. Supreme Court","Water","Water Regulation"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/","name":"Recent Supreme Court Ruling on Clean Water Act \u201cwill take our country backwards\u201d - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DN-6.14.23.jpg","datePublished":"2023-06-15T04:01:14+00:00","dateModified":"2024-10-25T00:20:54+00:00","description":"The Supreme Court\u2019s recent ruling in Sackett v. EPA on the Clean Water Act dramatically limits the EPA\u2019s ability to protect critical wetland ecosystems.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DN-6.14.23.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DN-6.14.23.jpg","width":600,"height":340},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2023\/06\/recent-supreme-court-ruling-on-clean-water-act-will-take-our-country-backwards\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Recent Supreme Court Ruling on Clean Water Act \u201cwill take our country backwards\u201d"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/","name":"Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","description":"News on Pesticide Science, Policy and Activism","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization","name":"Beyond Pesticides","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeyondPesticides-Logo-Stacked-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeyondPesticides-Logo-Stacked-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":2501,"caption":"Beyond Pesticides"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides","https:\/\/x.com\/ByondPesticides","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/beyondpesticides\/?hl=en","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/beyond-pesticides","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/bpncamp"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b5c0a0981b549cc5b628770073031f4","name":"Beyond Pesticides","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26b7558fcb265e244c6e159abe5f0aab551822dc82fd0b1607e809bdfbed20a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26b7558fcb265e244c6e159abe5f0aab551822dc82fd0b1607e809bdfbed20a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Beyond Pesticides"},"description":"Beyond Pesticides is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., which works with allies in protecting public health and the environment to lead the transition to a world free of toxic pesticides. The founders, who established Beyond Pesticides (originally as National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides) as a nonprofit membership organization in 1981, felt that without the existence of such an organized, national network, local, state and national pesticide policy would become, under chemical industry pressure, increasingly unresponsive to public health and environmental concerns. Beyond Pesticides believes that people must have a voice in decisions that affect them directly. We believe decisions should not be made for us by chemical companies or by decision-makers who either do not have all of the facts or refuse to consider them. Learn more about our work, read A Year in Review\u20142021, our accomplishments are your victories! Beyond Pesticides seeks to protect healthy air, water, land, and food for ourselves and future generations. By forging ties with governments, nonprofits, and people who rely on these natural resources, we reduce the need for unnecessary pesticide use and protect public health and the environment. Beyond Pesticides provides hands-on services to the public and supports local action by: identifying and interpreting hazards; and, designing safe pest management programs. With the information provided by Beyond Pesticides, people may not only be able to make informed choices and adopt practices that protect themselves and their families from unnecessary exposure to pesticides, but they will be able to effect changes on community-wide pest management decisions and policies that govern pesticide use, such as pesticide uses in parks, schools, for community insect control and along roadsides. Beyond Pesticides believes that people must have a voice in decisions which affect them directly.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.beyondpesticides.org","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/beyondpesticides\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/beyond-pesticides\/","https:\/\/x.com\/ByondPesticides","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/bpncamp\/"],"url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/author\/beyond-pesticides\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33044"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33064,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33044\/revisions\/33064"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}