Wetlands Face Challenges on Multiple Fronts After Sackett Ruling

Ongoing litigation promises to further alter the scope of Clean Water Act protections for wetlands in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Sackett v. EPA nearly 11 months ago, water lawyers say.

The ruling curtailed federal protections of wetlands and some waterways, fueling three major federal court cases filed by a total of 27 states challenging the Biden administration’s rule defining protected wetlands as waters of the US, or WOTUS. Another lawsuit filed by the attorneys that argued Sackett is poised to further chip away at wetlands protections.

Sackett changed how people think of what a wetland is, ...