Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/22pdf/21-454_4g15.pdf
Page Number: 70.0

Cite as:  598 U. S. ____ (2023) 

3 

KAVANAUGH, J., concurring in judgment 

the Sacketts acknowledge, see Tr. of Oral Arg. 7–8, 33–34, 
56–57,  the  statutory  term  “waters  of  the  United  States” 
covers wetlands “adjacent” to waters of the United States—
for  example,  wetlands  adjacent  to  a  river  or  lake  that  is 
itself a water of the United States.  33 U. S. C. §1344(g). 

As enacted in 1972, the Clean Water Act protected “the
waters of the United States.”  §§1311(a), 1362(7), 1362(12).
In 1975, the Army Corps interpreted “waters of the United 
States”  to  include  wetlands  “adjacent  to  other  navigable
waters.”  40 Fed. Reg. 31324.  In 1977, Congress expressly 
adopted that same understanding of the Act, amending the 
Act to make clear that only the Federal Government, and
not  the  States,  may  issue  Clean  Water  Act  permits  for 
dumping dredged or fill material into certain “waters of the
United  States,”  “including  wetlands  adjacent”  to  those 
covered waters.  Clean Water Act, 91 Stat. 1601; 33 U. S. C. 
In  that  1977  Act,  Congress  thus  expressly
§1344(g). 
recognized  “adjacent  wetlands”  as  “waters  of  the  United 
States.” 

Interpreting the text of the Act as amended in 1977, this 
Court has long held that the Act covers “adjacent” wetlands.
See  United  States  v.  Riverside  Bayview  Homes,  Inc.,  474 
U. S. 121, 134–135, 138 (1985) (“Congress expressly stated 
that  the  term  ‘waters’  included  adjacent  wetlands.”);  see 
also  Rapanos  v.  United  States,  547  U. S.  715,  742  (2006) 
(plurality opinion) (wetlands that “are ‘adjacent to’ ” waters
of the United States are “covered by the Act”); Solid Waste 
Agency of Northern Cook Cty. v. Army Corps of Engineers, 
531  U. S.  159,  167,  172  (2001)  (recognizing  “Congress’ 
unequivocal” 
regulations
interpreting  the  [Act]  to  cover  wetlands  adjacent  to
navigable waters”).  The Court has also ruled that the Act’s 
coverage of adjacent wetlands does not extend to “isolated” 
wetlands.  Id., at 168–172. 

“approval  of, 

the  Corps’ 

So the question here becomes the meaning of “adjacent” 
wetlands  under  the  Clean  Water  Act.  As  a  matter  of