5th Circuit Strictly Interprets Sackett Directive Over WOTUS Definition

A federal appellate court has dismissed federal regulators’ efforts to subject a Louisiana landowners’ property to Clean Water Act (CWA) permit requirements, in a ruling that some say provides a glimpse into how courts may strictly apply the high court’s Sackett decision that narrowly defined which waters are subject to regulation. Ending 10-year dispute over whether the property contained jurisdictional “waters of the United States” (WOTUS), Judge Edith Jones, a Reagan appointee, wrote a Dec. 18 opinion finding that...