Statement on Supreme Court Ruling: Sackett V. EPA – A Great Day for Wyoming

WASHINGTON, May 26 -- Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyoming, issued the following news release on May 25, 2023:

The Supreme Court released its much-anticipated opinion in the case of Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency.

Congresswoman Harriet Hageman stated, "Today is a great day for Wyoming, a great day for private property rights, and a great day for farmers and ranchers. It is, however, a sad day for unelected bureaucrats who think they should be able to dictate how we use our land and water.

"In the case of Sackett v. EPA, the Supreme Court finally clarified that the term 'navigable' means what it says and says what it means. The EPA only has jurisdiction over navigable waters of the United States, not non-navigable wetlands, drainage ditches, and small ponds on private property.

"The feds had clearly exceeded their authority under WOTUS and had expanded on the original law by redefining what is a "navigable body of water," rescinding changes made to WOTUS under the Trump administration, and increasing regulation of waters that would not be navigable under any circumstances. These new and punitive regulations were a de facto taking of private property.

"Liberty, freedom, and the rule of law were vindicated by today's court opinion"

Excerpt from the SCOTUS opinion:

In writing the majority opinion, Justice Alito states, "The CWA's use of "waters" refers only to "geographic[al] features that are described in ordinary parlance as 'streams, oceans, rivers, and lakes' " and to adjacent wetlands that are "indistinguishable" from those bodies of water due to a continuous surface connection. To assert jurisdiction over an adjacent wetland under the CWA, a party must establish "first, that the adjacent [body of water constitutes] . . . 'water[s] of the United States' (i.e., a relatively permanent body of water connected to traditional interstate navigable waters); and second, that the wetland has a continuous surface connection with that water, making it difficult to determine where the 'water' ends and the 'wetland' begins."

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View video here: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/PbVrgyvikGM?app=desktop&feature=share

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Original text here: https://hageman.house.gov/media/press-releases/statement-supreme-court-ruling-sackett-v-epa-great-day-wyoming