# *Sackett v. EPA*

\[T\]he regulatory reach of the Clean Water Act is a major question that Congress *won’t* answer and one that agencies *can’t* answer. As a result, landowners nationwide have been denied regulatory certainty with respect to the enjoyment of their property.

October 25, 2021 • Legal Briefs 

By [Ilya Shapiro](https://www.cato.org/people/ilya-shapiro) and [William Yeatman](https://www.cato.org/people/william-yeatman) 

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For 50 years, Congress has dodged its responsibility to set clear boundaries on federal authority under the Clean Water Act. The executive branch, alas, has further muddied the waters: every time there’s a political changeover in the White House, the limits of federal jurisdiction undergo a president-led transformation. Thus, the regulatory reach of the Clean Water Act is a major question that Congress *won’t* answer and one that agencies *can’t* answer. As a result, landowners nationwide have been denied regulatory certainty with respect to the enjoyment of their property.

In 2007, Michael and Chantell Sackett became mired in this regulatory morass. Their plans for a family home were put on indefinite hold when the government claimed that soggy parts of their property are subject to federal regulation as “navigable waters.” The Sacketts, represented by the [Pacific Legal Foundation](https://pacificlegal.org/), challenged the government’s jurisdictional determination in federal court, arguing that their homesite—which is bounded by permanent roads on both ends and has no surface water connection to any water body—cannot fall within the Clean Water Act’s ambit. Ultimately, the Ninth Circuit upheld the federal government’s jurisdiction. Now, the Sacketts seek Supreme Court review.

Today, the Cato Institute, joined by the [NFIB Small Business Legal Center](https://www.nfib.com/foundations/legal-center/), filed a brief in support of the Sacketts’ petition. We urge the Court to take this case and “say what the law is” regarding the notoriously unclear reach of the Clean Water Act.

[![Sackett v. EPA cover](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/serial_cover_phone/public/2021-10/sackett-v-epa.jpg?itok=OE8HZbZI)](https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/2021-10/sacket-v-epa.pdf) 

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##### *Sackett v. EPA* 

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##### About the Authors 

[![Ilya Shapiro](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/Ilya%20Shapiro.jpg?itok=m1_rdWBG)](/people/ilya-shapiro) 

##### [Ilya Shapiro](/people/ilya-shapiro)

Former Vice President and Director, Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute

[![William Yeatman](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/Will%20Yeatman.jpg?itok=cX7wRQR4)](/people/william-yeatman) 

##### [William Yeatman](/people/william-yeatman)

Senior Legal Fellow, Pacific Legal Foundation

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This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

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