The U.S. Supreme Court rules that regulators may have misinterpreted the federal Clean Water Act when they refused to allow two Michigan property owners to build on wetlands they own. The 5-4 split decision came after debate over whether government can extend protections for wetlands miles away from waterways.
Before the court was a challenge to the way the federal government, in concert with the states, regulates the nation's wetlands under the Clean Water Act. The law, enacted in 1972, is widely credited with cleaning up and preserving the nation's waterways. But it has been a thorn in the side of developers and some property owners because it requires them to get a permit for filling and dredging wetlands that empty into navigable waters and their tributaries.
