"Wetlands and waterways in national parks, monuments, forests and other federal public lands are newly vulnerable to pollution and development in the wake of the Supreme Court’s May ruling in Sackett v. EPA, natural resources attorneys say.

But because federal lands have some protection under the National Environmental Policy Act and a raft of other laws, there is broad disagreement among attorneys about how Sackett affects public land.

Sackett creates a federal jurisdictional test for waters and wetlands “that is divorced from science” and will “disempower federal land managers from protecting critical water resources on public lands,” said Craig Galli, senior partner at Holland & Hart LLP in Salt Lake City and a distinguished practitioner in residence at Brigham Young University Law School."

Bobby Magill reports for Bloomberg Environment August 3, 2023. [2]