Idaho wetlands case before the Supreme Court

And of course the 9th circuit court was involved...

From www.cfact.org

October 4, 2011 by Bonner Cohen, Ph. D.

In one of the most closely watched wetlands cases to come before the U.S. Supreme Court in decades, Mike and Chantell Sackett are facing off against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over whether the couple has been denied due process by the agency. The Sacketts’ efforts to build a home in a residential neighborhood near Bonners Ferry, Idaho have been thwarted by EPA, which demands the couple apply for a federal wetlands-development permit under the Clean Water Act (CWA).The half-acre lot the Sacketts purchased for their home in 2007 is located near, but not adjacent to, picturesque Priest Lake in northern Idaho. The couple obtained all local permits before they began clearing their land in preparation for constructing their home. Even though nothing on the property can be described as being wet – the lot contains no ponds, streams or marshes --, EPA contends the parcel is a federally designated wetland and subject to the expensive and time-consuming CWA wetlands permitting process. EPA ordered the couple to cease grading on the property in 2007.

In the belief the whole thing was some kind of bureaucratic misunderstanding, the Sacketts sought a hearing with EPA officials to clear up the matter. Among other things, they wanted to point out that the neighborhood in question is zoned residential and that their parcel is sandwiched between two other houses. With characteristic arrogance, EPA refused to grant the couple, whose federal taxes help support the agency, a hearing. Read more at www.cfact.org