The U.S. Supreme Court this week heard arguments in a case that could significantly impede the federal government's abilities to protect wetlands under the Clean Water Act. The case revolves around a tract of swampy land near Chicago, Illinois, where a group of local governments wanted to construct a garbage dump. Permission to build the dump was initially denied by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which argued that the proposed 18 acre landfill would harm the ducks, geese and other protected waterfowl that use the boggy site during their biannual migrations.
Wetlands come in many forms.
But the proposed developers argue that the ponds and puddles on the landfill do not qualify for federal protection. If the Supreme Court agrees, it could radically redefine which kinds of wetlands are protected under federal law. Neither of those arguments was good enough for the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County, Illinois, the organization that planned to build the landfill on behalf of 23 Illinois municipalities. The Agency filed a lawsuit against the Corps, maintaining that the federal agency had no right to use the Clean Water Act to regulate the types of wetlands that are located on the proposed dump site. The Solid Waste Agency also rejected the argument that the migratory birds are related to interstate commerce, which would be subject to federal regulation under the U.S. Constitution.