Sackett v. EPA

Summary

The Court held that the Clean Water Act covers only relatively permanent bodies of water described in ordinary parlance as streams, oceans, rivers, and lakes, plus wetlands that are indistinguishable from those waters because of a continuous surface connection. It rejected the EPA's significant-nexus approach as inconsistent with the statute's text and structure, federalism principles, and due-process concerns arising from the Act's severe penalties. Applying that rule, the Court concluded that the wetlands on the Sacketts' property were distinguishable from covered waters and reversed and remanded.