Drainage ditches are no longer regulated under Clean Water Act: Supreme Court

May 26, 2023, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement praising the Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. EPA that overturned an Obama era regulation, the Waters of the U.S.:

“The federal government can no longer turn a drainage ditch into a regulated waterway as the Supreme Court decided in Sackett v. EPA that attempts by the Environmental Protection Agency exceeded their regulatory power.

“Thank goodness common sense is being restored somewhere in America.  No one in their right mind would consider a drainage ditch on a farm to be a regulable body of water under the Clean Water Act, yet federal regulators subjected a couple in Idaho to $40,000 a day fines over whether they could operate farming activity around a ditch.  Prior to the Supreme Court opinion, the EPA interpretation of the Clean Water Act effectively gave the federal government operational control of much of the land in America. Freedom lovers have been given another ray of hope that the U.S. Constitution and the liberties it guarantees still survive in American, even as the rotting administrative state continues to thrust itself into every aspect of our lives.  One would think that with the West Virginia v. EPA case and now the Sackett decision clearly cutting the bureaucracy’s reach that radical regulations would be on the downturn, but unfortunately the Biden administration continues to produce regulation after regulation disconnected from the laws passed by Congress and the Constitution in an attempt to direct the economic future of the country through red tape intimidation.

“Given the U.S. Supreme Court rulings, Congress should take action against agencies like the EPA which continue to do violence against the will of Congress by cutting funding to the regulation writers within that and other recalcitrant agencies.  With pending regulations seeking to end natural gas powered stoves, internal combustion powered vehicles and the electricity generating power plants which create about 60 percent of our nation’s electricity, ending funding for those who are actively defying the clear intent of the Court is Congress’ only responsible course of action.

“After all, the Biden strategy is to ignore legal rulings they don’t like and while using their interpretations of the law as a cudgel over the heads of anyone who disagrees with them, all in their battle for the ‘soul of America.’”

For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.

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