APPELLATE RULING MAY CREATE CIRCUIT SPLIT ON WATER ACT JURISDICTION

摘要

Legal experts are awaiting a ruling on the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act (CWA) from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit because of the possibility the court may depart from other circuits and endorse a narrow interpretation of which wetlands are protected by the water act under the high court's fractured Rapanos decision. While a split in the appellate circuits could create even greater confusion over interpreting the high court's ruling, it could also provide grounds for parties to ask the high court to again review the issue. The focus on the 5th Circuit comes as the Supreme Court recently denied petitions for certiorari in CWA jurisdiction cases from the lst and 7th circuits, where property rights advocates had asked the high court to overturn broad interpretations of which wetlands are protected under the law.