June 19, 2006 11:20AM 

# Supreme Court Deep-Sixes Federal Wetlands Regulation 

By [Jerry Taylor](https://www.cato.org/people/jerry-taylor) 

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From a news bulletin I just received from the enviro trade publication *Greenwire*:

> ***Supreme Court limits reach of Clean Water Act in 5–4 ruling***

> *A divided Supreme Court ruled this morning that Clean Water Act protection of “waters of the United States” is limited to “permanent, standing or continuously flowing” water. The ruling limits protection for wetlands separated from “navigable waters” or their tributaries.*
> 
> 
> *Justice Anthony M. Kennedy cast the swing vote in the 5–4 ruling in the joint case, Rapanos v. United States and Carabell v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.*

This is a big win for the good guys!

More [here](http://www.scotusblog.com/movabletype/archives/2006/06/decisions_3.html).

##### Related Tags 

[Energy and Environment](https://www.cato.org/research/energy-environment), [General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) 

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