Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. United States Army Corps of Engineers

Summary

Chief Justice Rehnquist, joined by Justices O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, and Thomas, held that the Corps exceeded its authority under § 404(a) of the Clean Water Act by applying the Migratory Bird Rule to SWANCC's isolated, nonnavigable, intrastate ponds. The Court reversed the Seventh Circuit, rejected administrative deference, and did not decide whether Congress constitutionally could authorize the asserted jurisdiction. Justice Stevens dissented, joined by Justices Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer. He argued that the Act's text, purposes, and 1977 amendments supported the Corps' jurisdiction, that its interpretation deserved deference, and that regulating discharges into migratory-bird habitat was within Congress' Commerce Clause power. He would have affirmed.