EPA Significantly Shrinks What Qualifies as Federal Waters After Supreme Court Ruling

The EPA rule change complies with a recent Supreme Court decision interpreting the Clean Water Act of 1972.

Water is held back from a lower-elevation farm (R) by a section of Highway 4 that serves as a levee road in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta west of Stockton, Calif., on Sept. 28, 2005. David McNew/Getty Images

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reduced the number of wetlands covered by federal dumping regulations, effective Aug. 29.

The change complies with a May ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in Sackett v. EPA that narrowed the interpretation of “waters of the United States,” which are subject to federal regulation.