The following is portion of an article from Drovers CattleNetwork:
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday in favor of landowners in their battle against the Environmental Protection Agency. In a unanimous decision, the court agreed that an Idaho couple can sue to challenge a federal government compliance order under the Clean Water Act. The ruling was seen as a victory for the “little guy,” but was also hailed by business groups and corporations.
Five years ago Mike and Chantell Sackett purchased a 0.63-acre lot near Priest Lake in the Idaho panhandle with intentions to build a home. Preparing the site for construction meant three days of hauling fill dirt to the lot in 2007 before officials from the EPA and the U.S Army Corps of Engineers ordered a halt to the activity. The feds suspected the site was a wetlands.
Six months later the EPA sent the Sacketts a “compliance order” stating the land must be restored as a wetlands before the couple could apply for a building permit. Failure to comply with the order could put the Sacketts in jeopardy of fines as much as $37,500 per day.
The Sacketts’ case reached the Supreme Court because the EPA contends – and lower courts agreed – that individuals do not have the right to go to court to challenge the agency’s wetlands decision.
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Source: Drovers CattleNetwork
Posted by Haylie Shipp
