Today, in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, the Supreme Court adopted a narrowing interpretation of the scope of federal regulatory authority under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The justices were unanimous in rejecting the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit's expansive interpretation of the EPA's regulatory authority and Justice Kennedy's "significant nexus" test for CWA jurisdiction. But the justices split 5-4 on how to interpret the CWA and the extent to which Congress authorized the regulation of wetlands as part of "the waters of the United States."
Justice Alito wrote the opinion for the Court, joined by the Chief Justice and Justices Thomas, Gorsuch, and Barrett. Justice Thomas concurred, joined by Justice Gorsuch. Justice Kavanaugh concurred in the judgment (in what is effectively the principal dissent), joined by Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson, and Justice Kagan wrote a separate opinion concurring in the judgment joined by Justices Sotomayor and Jackson.
Justice Alito's opinion for the Court embraces Justice Scalia's plurality opinion from Rapanos v. United States. Writes Justice Alito:
