-Caveat Lector-
Reuters
Supreme Court Limits Federal Regulation of Ponds
By James Vicini
WASHINGTON, Jan. 9, 2001 (Reuters) - A closely divided U.S.
Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that the federal government lacks
the authority under the clean water law to regulate isolated
ponds which provide habitat formigrating birds.
The high court, by a 5-4 ruling written by Chief Justice William
Rehnquist, said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers overstepped its
authority in asserting regulatory jurisdiction in such cases.
Although the case raised broad constitutional issues about
Congress's power to regulate interstate commerce, the justices
split along conservative and liberal lines in deciding the
dispute on statutory grounds involving the reach of the clean
water law that dates back nearly 30 years.
It marked the latest in a series of rulings in the past several
years by the conservative-controlled high court that have limited
the reach of federal laws while expanding the powers of states
and local governments.
The case involved a group of Illinois municipalities that argued
the Corps of Engineers lacked the authority to keep them from
building a landfill on a site in Cook County.
The Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County, a consortium of
23 municipalities, decided during the 1980s to build a
solid-waste landfill on a 533-acre site straddling Cook County,
where Chicago is located, and Kane County.
The site had been a strip mine about 50 years earlier, and areas
that once were gravel pits had become a number of small ponds
used as seasonal nesting and breeding areas by a variety of
migratory birds.
The federal Clean Water Act requires a permit from the Corps of
Engineers to dispose landfill in ``waters of the United States,''
including lakes, wetlands and ponds.
While state and local government agencies reviewed and approved
the landfill, the Corps of Engineers rejected the request for a
permit.
Federal Government Suffers Defeat
The ruling represented a major victory for the Illinois
municipalities, and a defeat for the federal government.
Rehnquist said federal jurisdiction over such ponds would result
in a ``significant'' infringement on the states' traditional and
primary power over land and water use.
He said there was no clear statement from Congress that it
intended the law to reach an abandoned sand and gravel pit such
as the one at issue in Illinois.
He was joined by Justices Sandra Day O'Connor , Antonin Scalia,
Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas, all of whom have been
advocates of expanded states' rights.
Justice John Paul Stevens said in a strongly worded dissent that
the court in the ruling ``takes an unfortunate step that
needlessly weakens our principal safeguard against toxic water.''
He said the protection of migratory birds has been a
well-established federal responsibility.
Stevens was joined by the other members of the court's liberal
bloc --Justices David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen
Breyer.
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Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
*Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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