Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Supreme Court upholds EPA policy of not requiring permits for logging roads in Northwest

The Supreme Court ruled today that the Environmental Protection Agency has the correct policy for regulating stormwater runoff on logging roads in the Pacific Northwest: "Logging roads are not industrial point-source pollution and consequently don't require Clean Water Act permits," Jeremy Jacobs of Greenwire reports.

"Justice Antonin Scalia dissented, arguing that the court is giving EPA too much deference, particularly since the agency revised the rule in the days leading up to the case's arguments to make it clearer," Jacobs writes. Justice Stephen Breyer recused himself because his brother was a member of the appeals-court panel that previously ruled on the case. The decision can be read here.

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