News
Supreme Court Sharply Limits the EPA’s Ability to Protect Wetlands
A conservative majority held that the agency’s authority under the Clean Water Act covered only wetlands connected to larger bodies of water, which environmentalists called a “catastrophic” limitation.
By Emma Ricketts
The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to protect wetlands applied only to those that are indistinguishable from, and have a “continuous surface connection” to, larger lakes, oceans, streams and rivers.
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State of Play
More than 30 years after the last major update of the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Supreme Court has upended the ability of Congress to give the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies broad scope to combat air pollution, including the emission of greenhouse gases. Meanwhile, further Biden administration efforts to limit emissions face opposition in the courts.