Legislative Approaches to Defining 'Waters of the United States'

Legislative Approaches to Defining 'Waters of the United States'
Author :
Publisher : DIANE Publishing
Total Pages : 18
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781437933291
ISBN-13 : 1437933297
Rating : 4/5 (91 Downloads)

Synopsis Legislative Approaches to Defining 'Waters of the United States' by : Claudia Copeland

This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. In the 111th Congress, legislation has been introduced that seeks to clarify the scope of the Clean Water Act (CWA) in the wake of Supreme Court decisions in 2001 and 2006 that interpreted the law¿s jurisdiction more narrowly than prior case law. Bills to nullify the Court¿s rulings have been introduced repeatedly since the 107th Congress, but none had advanced until the 111th Congress. The legal and policy questions concerning the outer geographic limits of CWA jurisdiction and consequences of restricting that scope have challenged regulators, landowners and developers, and policymakers for more than 35 years. Contents of this report: Intro.; Analysis of Bills; Regulatory and Proposed Statutory Definitions of ¿Waters of the U.S.¿ Illus.

Water Code

Water Code
Author :
Publisher :
Total Pages : 570
Release :
ISBN-10 : STANFORD:36105064220598
ISBN-13 :
Rating : 4/5 (98 Downloads)

Synopsis Water Code by : Texas

The Reach of Raich

The Reach of Raich
Author :
Publisher :
Total Pages : 0
Release :
ISBN-10 : OCLC:1376419577
ISBN-13 :
Rating : 4/5 (77 Downloads)

Synopsis The Reach of Raich by : Kimberly Breedon

In 1972, Congress responded to the growing national water pollution problem by passing the Clean Water Act (CWA) in an effort to protect and maintain the quality of the nation's waters. Since that time, courts, regulatory agencies, and Congress itself have struggled to interpret, apply, and define the CWA coherently and uniformly, particularly regarding its regulation of wetlands. Within the judiciary, federal courts at all levels have established varying limits on the reach of the CWA's jurisdiction over wetlands. Similar inconsistencies surfaced in the regulatory agencies responsible for implementing the CWA. In the 1970s, for example, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) promulgated conflicting regulatory interpretations of the extent of the Corps's jurisdiction over wetlands. And when Congress amended the CWA in 1977, it not only failed to resolve existing ambiguities regarding the reach of the Corps's jurisdiction, it intensified the interpretive difficulties by defining “navigable waters” broadly as the “waters of the United States,” without determining the extent to which either term applied to the regulation of wetlands. The pervasive inconsistency exhibited in all branches of the government regarding the CWA's application to wetlands has been exacerbated by the Supreme Court's distinction between wetlands that are not adjacent to navigable waters and those that are adjacent to navigable waters. Other recent Supreme Court decisions interpreting Congress's powers under the Commerce Clause have added to the confusion. These decisions have resulted in a split among the lower courts as to the reach of Congress's commerce powers to regulate non-adjacent wetlands. This Article proposes that the inconsistencies are best overcome by: (1) a scientifically based interpretive framework that will increase the predictability and uniformity of court decisions applying the CWA to wetlands regulations, and (2) an explicit expansion of the meaning of “channels of commerce” to include activities that substantially affect channels of commerce, irrespective of whether such activities substantially affect interstate commerce. Part II discusses the legislative and judicial histories of the CWA. Part III reviews Supreme Court decisions interpreting Congress's powers to regulate commerce, and federal judicial decisions interpreting the CWA within the context of contemporary Commerce Clause doctrine. Part IV discusses the utility of congressional power to protect wetlands as a class under the CWA in light of the nexus between pollution of navigable waters and wetlands as a potential source point for pollution. Part V concludes that Congress's commerce powers extend to regulating intrastate, isolated, non-navigable wetlands, and that Congress should grant explicit jurisdiction over such wetlands to the Corps. Some commentators have argued that regulating wetlands is a channel-of-commerce power, as opposed to a substantial effects power, and others have argued that courts should consider groundwater flow between wetlands and navigable surface waters as a sufficient nexus to invoke Congress's power. This Article seeks to combine and strengthen those arguments by adding scientific underpinnings to support them both, and by considering the implications of the Supreme Court's recent decision in Gonzales v. Raich, which interprets the Commerce Clause as applied to a comprehensive scheme of legislation.

There Is More to the Clean Water Act Than Waters of the United States

There Is More to the Clean Water Act Than Waters of the United States
Author :
Publisher :
Total Pages : 0
Release :
ISBN-10 : OCLC:1375385072
ISBN-13 :
Rating : 4/5 (72 Downloads)

Synopsis There Is More to the Clean Water Act Than Waters of the United States by : Robin Kundis Craig

When Congress enacted the contemporary form of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act in 1972, it used the same statutory formula to trigger both of the Act's two permit programs. That decision was never completely comfortable, and over time it has become clear that, although the two permit programs serve the same regulatory goal of improving water quality, they otherwise resonate in two very different complexes of legal values. The U.S. Supreme Court repeatedly has found the Section 404 complex particularly troublesome, holding that a broad definition of “waters of the United States” in this program threatens to infringe both states' Tenth Amendment prerogatives and landowners' private property rights. Moreover, this narrowing of jurisdictional “waters of the United States” is likely to continue into the 2022-2023 Supreme Court term through the case of Sackett v. EPA.The intense legal and political focus on “waters of the United States” since at least the Court's 2006 decision in Rapanos v. United States has obscured the fact that Clean Water Act jurisdiction depends on five elements, not just that one, that must be evaluated together. Moreover, the Supreme Court's approach to Section 402 jurisdiction in its 2020 decision in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund counsels the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to take a more holistic approach to their next round of Clean Water Act jurisdictional regulations. This more holistic approach offers two immediate benefits: a highlighting of the many existing exemptions from Section 404 and a simplification of jurisdictional analyses. However, in the wake of the anticipated outcome of Sackett v. EPA, the holistic approach can also keep Section 402 jurisdiction relatively broad.

Valuing Ground Water

Valuing Ground Water
Author :
Publisher : National Academies Press
Total Pages : 203
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780309175005
ISBN-13 : 0309175003
Rating : 4/5 (05 Downloads)

Synopsis Valuing Ground Water by : National Research Council

Because water in the United State has not been traded in markets, there is no meaningful estimate of what it would cost if it were traded. But failing to establish ground water's valueâ€"for in situ uses such as sustaining wetlands as well as for extractive uses such as agricultureâ€"will lead to continued overuse and degradation of the nation's aquifers. In Valuing Ground Water an interdisciplinary committee integrates the latest economic, legal, and physical knowledge about ground water and methods for valuing this resource, making it comprehensible to decision-makers involved in Superfund cleanup efforts, local wellhead protection programs, water allocation, and other water-related management issues. Using the concept of total economic value, this volume provides a framework for calculating the economic value of ground water and evaluating tradeoffs between competing uses of it. Included are seven case studies where ground-water valuation has been or could be used in decisionmaking. The committee examines trends in ground-water management, factors that contribute to its value, and issues surrounding ground-water allocation and legal rights to its use. The book discusses economic valuation of natural resources and reviews several valuation methods. Presenting conclusions, recommendations, and research priorities, Valuing Ground Water will be of interest to those concerned about ground-water issues: policymakers, regulators, economists, attorneys, researchers, resource managers, and environmental advocates.

How Our Laws are Made

How Our Laws are Made
Author :
Publisher :
Total Pages : 72
Release :
ISBN-10 : PURD:32754073527669
ISBN-13 :
Rating : 4/5 (69 Downloads)

Synopsis How Our Laws are Made by : John V. Sullivan

Riparian Areas

Riparian Areas
Author :
Publisher : National Academies Press
Total Pages : 449
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780309082952
ISBN-13 : 0309082951
Rating : 4/5 (52 Downloads)

Synopsis Riparian Areas by : National Research Council

The Clean Water Act (CWA) requires that wetlands be protected from degradation because of their important ecological functions including maintenance of high water quality and provision of fish and wildlife habitat. However, this protection generally does not encompass riparian areasâ€"the lands bordering rivers and lakesâ€"even though they often provide the same functions as wetlands. Growing recognition of the similarities in wetland and riparian area functioning and the differences in their legal protection led the NRC in 1999 to undertake a study of riparian areas, which has culminated in Riparian Areas: Functioning and Strategies for Management. The report is intended to heighten awareness of riparian areas commensurate with their ecological and societal values. The primary conclusion is that, because riparian areas perform a disproportionate number of biological and physical functions on a unit area basis, restoration of riparian functions along America's waterbodies should be a national goal.

Model Rules of Professional Conduct

Model Rules of Professional Conduct
Author :
Publisher : American Bar Association
Total Pages : 216
Release :
ISBN-10 : 1590318730
ISBN-13 : 9781590318737
Rating : 4/5 (30 Downloads)

Synopsis Model Rules of Professional Conduct by : American Bar Association. House of Delegates

The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.

Congressional Record

Congressional Record
Author :
Publisher :
Total Pages : 1414
Release :
ISBN-10 : UCR:31210026415578
ISBN-13 :
Rating : 4/5 (78 Downloads)

Synopsis Congressional Record by : United States. Congress

The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873. Debates for sessions prior to 1873 are recorded in The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (1789-1824), the Register of Debates in Congress (1824-1837), and the Congressional Globe (1833-1873)