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Analyzing the Supreme Court's Wetlands Decision

The Michigan Land Use Institute has an in-depth feature about the Supreme Court case involving a Michigan developer that was supposed to test the federal government's authority to regulate wetlands under the federal Clean Water Act. Regarding the unusual 4-1-4 decision directing the case back to the lower courts, the MLUI observes that:

...despite its seeming ambiguity, the June ruling was a clear warning to environmentalists. Even though they successfully ducked a roundhouse right that could have knocked wetlands protection back a number of decades, the decision made them more aware than ever that four of the High Courtís justices seem intent on diminishing the federal governmentís authority to protect Americaís natural resources, particularly wetlands.

Read Supreme Court Decision a Warning on Wetlands from the Great Lakes Bulletin News Service

Posted/updated Jul 21, 2006
by Andrew McFarlane (Absolute Michigan)