{"ID":55326,"name":"Rapanos v. United States","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/cases\/2005\/04-1034","view_count":0,"docket_number":"04-1034","additional_docket_numbers":["04-1384"],"manner_of_jurisdiction":"Writ of \u003Ci\u003Ecertiorari\u003C\/i\u003E","first_party":"John A. Rapanos et ux. et al.","second_party":"United States","timeline":[{"event":"Granted","dates":[1129006800],"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_timeline\/case_timeline\/39524"},{"event":"Argued","dates":[1140501600],"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_timeline\/case_timeline\/39525"},{"event":"Decided","dates":[1150693200],"href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/case_timeline\/case_timeline\/39526"}],"lower_court":{"ID":11,"name":"United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit","href":"https:\/\/api.oyez.org\/taxonomy\/term\/11"},"facts_of_the_case":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Rapanos sought to fill in three wetland areas on his property in order to build a shopping center. Rapanos ignored warnings from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality that the area was protected wetlands under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The CWA allows the government to regulate the discharge of any pollutant (including dirt or sand) into \u0022navigable waters,\u0022 which the Act defines as \u0022the waters of the United States.\u0022 Under regulations issued by the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), wetlands are covered by the CWA as long as they are adjacent to traditionally navigable waters or tributaries of such waters. After Rapanos also ignored cease-and-desist orders from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the government brought a civil suit against him. Rapanos argued before the District Court that the CWA gives the government jurisdiction to regulate only traditionally navigable waters. The government countered that Rapanos\u0027s lands were covered by the CWA as \u0022adjacent wetlands\u0022 under the Corps\u0027s interpretation of the Act; the sites drained into man-made drains which eventually emptied into navigable rivers and lakes. The District Court rejected Rapanos\u0027s argument and upheld the Corps\u0027s regulations including the wetlands as \u0022waters of the United States.\u0022 The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that the \u0022hydrological connection\u0022 of the wetlands to the navigable waters qualifies them as \u0022waters of the United States\u0022 under the Act.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Carabells sought to fill in a wetland on their property in order to build a condominium, but were denied a permit because the wetland was protected under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The CWA allows the government to regulate the discharge of any pollutant (including dirt or sand) into \u0022navigable waters,\u0022 which the Act defines as \u0022the waters of the United States.\u0022 Under regulations issued by the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), wetlands are covered by the CWA as long as they are adjacent to traditionally navigable waters or tributaries of such waters. Carabell\u0027s site is separated from a nearby ditch by a 4-foot-wide berm (earthen barrier), but the Corps\u0027s regulations specify that the wetland is nevertheless adjacent to the waterway. The ditch empties into another ditch, which in turn empties into a creek and ultimately into Lake St. Clair, a navigable water. After exhausting administrative appeals, Carabell sued in District Court. Carabell argued that the government lacked jurisdiction under the CWA to regulate the relatively isolated wetland as part of the \u0022waters of the United States.\u0022 The District Court disagreed, and upheld the Corps\u0027s expansive interpretation of the CWA. On appeal, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals also ruled for the Corps, holding that as long as wetlands are \u0022adjacent\u0022 to tributaries of traditionally navigable waters and share a \u0022significant nexus\u0022 with such waters, the wetlands qualify as \u0022waters of the United States\u0022 for purposes of the CWA.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","question":"\u003Cp\u003EDoes the phrase \u0022waters of the United States\u0022 in the Clean Water Act include a wetland that at least occasionally empties into a tributary of a traditionally navigable water?\u003C\/p\u003E\n","conclusion":"\u003Cp\u003EUnanswered. The closely-divided Court split 4-1-4, with Justice Anthony Kennedy providing the crucial fifth vote to reject the Sixth Circuit\u0027s decision.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJustice Antonin Scalia wrote the plurality opinion, which was joined by three other Justices. The plurality rejected the argument that only actually-navigable waters can be regulated by the Clean Water Act, but also held that the word \u0022navigable\u0022 in the Act cannot be divested of all meaning. The plurality held that the definitional term \u0022waters of the United States\u0022 can only refer to \u0022relatively permanent, standing or flowing bodies of water,\u0022 not \u0022occasional,\u0022 \u0022intermittent,\u0022 or \u0022ephemeral\u0022 flows. Furthermore, A mere \u0022hydrological connection\u0022 is not sufficient to qualify a wetland as covered by the CWA; it must have a \u0022continuous surface connection\u0022 with a \u0022water of the United States\u0022 that makes it \u0022difficult to determine where the \u0027water\u0027 ends and the \u0027wetland\u0027 begins.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJustice Kennedy wrote a separate concurring opinion, which disagreed with much of the plurality\u0027s reasoning. In Justice Kennedy\u0027s view, wetlands need not have a continuous surface connection to a continuously flowing body of water to be covered under the CWA, but mere adjacency to a tributary of a navigable water is not sufficient. Instead, Wetlands that are not adjacent to a traditionally navigable water must have a \u0022significant nexus\u0022 with a one. This requirement is satisfied if the wetland has a significant effect on the water quality of navigable waters. Justice Kennedy suggested that Rapanos\u0027s wetlands may be covered under the CWA if more evidence of a significant nexus were presented.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJustice Stevens wrote a dissent, which was joined by Justices Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer. The dissent argued that the Corps\u0027s regulations should be upheld as a reasonable interpretation of the Act. The inclusion of all wetlands adjacent to tributaries of navigable waters was most consistent with the CWA\u0027s purpose of eliminating pollution in the nation\u0027s waters.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThough the Court failed to obtain a majority on most of the legal issues presented by the case, the plurality and Justice Kennedy agreed to send the case back to the Sixth Circuit for a new decision based on a different analysis.\u003C\/p\u003E\n","advocates":[{"advocate":{"ID":37772,"name":"Paul D. 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