CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is leading a group of 20 other state attorneys general in seeking a clear definition of “waters of the United States” from the U.S. Supreme Court in what he says is the ultimate interest of protecting states’ sovereignty over water and land within their borders.
The coalition of attorneys general filed an amicus brief requesting the Supreme Court revisit a lower court’s decision that defines the term “waters of the United States” so broadly that it could be used for a federal water and land grab. The case is styled Sackett v. EPA.
The coalition says states historically have had extensive authority over water, and the land that adjoins it, within their respective state borders. But the group says that authority is under attack from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and previous court rulings that have too broadly defined which bodies of water and adjacent lands are subject to federal regulation.
Morrisey
“It shouldn’t be tough for the highest court in the land to define ‘waters of the United States’ in such a way that state lands and waters are not subject to the whims of unelected bureaucrats,” Morrisey said. “Not only does the confusion challenge the states’ sovereignty, but it is extremely costly to property owners who can spend years and tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars just getting permission from the federal regulators to build on their own property.
"Clarification from the Supreme Court would streamline the process.”
The AGs also say states have their own rules and protocols in place to protect drinking water and mitigate pollutants. States, they argue, often are best equipped to handle such matters within their borders due to the vast geographical differences across the North American continent rather than being subject to blanket federal standards that may not fit the needs of individual states.
The West Virginia-led petition was joined by the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
