Episode: What Water Counts as Wetlands?

Stephen Miller from the University of Idaho College of Law joins Logan Finney this week to discuss Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency. This case was the first of the high court's new term and was heard last Monday. It begins with the Sacketts, who are a couple that purchased a piece of property in 2004 near Priest Lake, Idaho, in the northern panhandle. The Sacketts began to build a home on their lot in 2007, but construction was stopped by the EPA because, according to the agency, the property contains wetlands that are regulated under the federal Clean Water Act. Under existing court precedent, “jurisdiction over wetlands depends upon the existence of a significant nexus between the wetlands in question and navigable waters in the traditional sense.” However, the Sackets ask the court to consider whether that is the proper test for determining whether wetlands are “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act.