Illinois farmers hail U.S. Supreme Court ruling regarding Clean Water Act

A ruling by the nation’s highest court is being called a victory for Illinois farmers. 

The U.S. Supreme Court said the Biden Administration's Waters of the United States rule under the Clean Water Act extends to "only those wetlands that are as a practical matter indistinguishable from waters of the United States.” 

The Sackett v. EPA case goes back to 2004. Michael and Chantelle Sackett were building a home in Idaho when they were told they could not backfill a lot with dirt because the property was on wetlands adjacent to a tributary

“It's a huge win for our farmers here in Illinois and throughout the country because with [the ruling] the Supreme Court came down on with the Sackett case, it really eliminates 20 years of what we’ve termed judicial confusion,” said Mark Gebhards with the Illinois Farm Bureau. 

A majority of five judges agreed that the Clean Water Act only applies to wetlands that have a continuous surface connection to bigger bodies of water, where it is difficult to tell where the waters end and the wetlands begin. 

White barn by Austin Goode is licensed under Unsplash unsplash.com
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