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ASLA Opposes Unanimous Supreme Court Ruling on WOTUS06-02-23 | Legislation

ASLA Opposes Unanimous Supreme Court Ruling on WOTUS

Association Claims Supreme Court Ignored Science
by Staff

The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 against the Environmental Protection Agency in the Sackett v. EPA case.

Upon the news of the Supreme Court's unanimous ruling on the Sackett v. EPA case, in which they ruled against the Environmental Protection Agencies attempt to define wetlands on a privately owned property as "waters of the United States" because they were near a ditch that fed into a creek, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) applauded the Supreme Court's Ruling.

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However, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) held an opposing view as they claimed that the Supreme Court's unanimous decision ignores science. ASLA CEO Torey Carter-Conneen issued a statement explain the associations perspective, "At a time when we should be doing more to protect our nation's water, the Court instead undermines the Clean Water Act that has been in place for more than 50 years. This short-sighted decision ignores science and the well-documented hydrological understanding of the interconnection of water sources. In a decade marked by both extreme drought in the West and severe soaking storms in the East, wetlands are important ecosystems that can help provide solutions in both extremes-now they are at risk."
Carter-Conneen's statement continued by claiming that this ruling created a loophole for polluters to leverage for short term gain that would impact communities "who can least afford to bear the burden."
https://www.asla.org/NewsReleaseDetails.aspx?id=63591
https://www.nahb.org/blog/2023/05/scotus-wotus-decision

Filed Under: WOTUS, WATER, SUPREME COURT, ASLA, LASN
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