Rein in EPA’s Authority Over Wetlands, Idaho Couple Urges Supreme Court
The attorney for an Idaho couple that has been battling federal officials for years over the right to develop their own property asked the Supreme Court on Oct. 3 to rein in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s power to regulate wetlands.
Chantell and Mike Sackett had started building a new home in Priest Lake, Idaho, when the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers suddenly ordered them to stop all work. The two government agencies said they needed a federal permit and threatened more than $30,000 in daily fines. The EPA had determined years before that their parcel of land contained wetlands. The Sacketts say their lot lacks a surface water connection to any stream, creek, lake, or other water body, and it shouldn’t be subject to federal regulation and permitting….