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Water Law Commons

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Environmental Law

Georgetown University Law Center

Clean Water Act

Publication Year

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Full-Text Articles in Water Law

The Antiregulatory Arsenal, Antidemocratic Can(N)Ons, And The Waters Wars, William W. Buzbee Dec 2022

The Antiregulatory Arsenal, Antidemocratic Can(N)Ons, And The Waters Wars, William W. Buzbee

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The Clean Water Act has become a centerpiece in an enduring multifront battle against both environmental regulation and federal regulatory power in all of its settings. This Article focuses on the emergence, elements, and linked uses of an antiregulatory arsenal now central to battles over what are federally protected “waters of the United States.” This is the key jurisdictional hook for CWA jurisdiction, and hence, logically, has become the heart of CWA contestation. The multi-decade battle over Waters protections has both drawn on emergent antiregulatory moves and generated new weapons in this increasingly prevalent and powerful antiregulatory arsenal. This array …


Federal Wetlands Regulatory Policy: Up To Its Ears In Alligators, Hope M. Babcock Jan 1991

Federal Wetlands Regulatory Policy: Up To Its Ears In Alligators, Hope M. Babcock

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Protecting the nation's dwindling wetland resources under section 404 of the Clean Water Act has been a persistent and discouraging proposition. Section 404 of the Act "lies like an open wound across the body of environmental law." Given the ecological and economic value of the resource, this seems puzzling--but only for a moment. An examination of the federal wetlands permitting program reveals significant problems. These problems, combined with ingrained attitudes about the sanctity of private property, lack of public appreciation of wetland values, and insufficient political will to protect them, make it easy to see why wetlands continue to disappear, …