Supreme Court Sidesteps Wetlands Disputes (washingtonpost.com)

The Supremes refuse to enforce their own previous interpretation of the Clean Water Act and how it can be applied to so-called wet-lands (a term nowhere to be found in the statute). So now, given the Supreme Court's refusal to follow up on its 2001 decision about a gravel pit in Illinois, apparently -- at least in those circuits -- every man's property is actually part of the "waters of the United States."

Update from the New York Times:

Without comment, the court turned down three cases challenging federal regulatory power over wetlands that are not directly connected to navigable waterways. Landowners, supported by the building industry, contested the government's interpretation of the Clean Water Act in light of a 2001 Supreme Court decision that rejected federal jurisdiction over isolated ponds visited by migratory birds.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, that decision was a narrow one that did not remove federal jurisdiction over wetlands that are part of the drainage area or tributary systems of navigable waterways. The plaintiffs and their allies pressed for a broader interpretation of the 2001 ruling.

One, John A. Rapanos, a Michigan landowner who acted without a permit to fill wetlands that were 20 miles from a navigable river, was criminally convicted and now faces a 10-month prison sentence. His appeal was Rapanos v. United States, No. 03-929. The others were Deaton v. United States, No. 03-701, and Newdunn Associates v. United States Army Corps of Engineers, No. 03-637.