Navigating through clean water act jurisdiction: A legal review
Navigating through clean water act jurisdiction: A legal review
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浏览《清洁水法》管辖范围：法律审查
DOI：
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发表时间：
2003
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
L. D. Wood
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
D. Downing;Cathy Winer;L. D. Wood
2001年，美国最高法院在北方库克县固体废物管理局（SWANCC）一案中裁定，孤立的州内非通航沃茨不能根据《清洁水法》（CWA）的规定受到保护。SWANCC代表了对CWA的重大重新解释，重新强调了法规保护的“美国沃茨”定义中可航行性的重要性。该决定还暗示，孤立的沃茨可能是“美国的沃茨”，在那里它们与通航沃茨有“重大联系”。要理解SWANCC的重要性，需要对保护地表沃茨的联邦法律和法规的地理范围进行历史考察。通航性的概念在1899年的《河流与港口法》中占有突出地位，但在1972年颁布之后，在SWANCC之前，CWA的主要实施重点是水文循环和与州际商业联系的相关性，以确定哪些沃茨受到CWA的保护。在未来的几年和几个月里，CWA的地理管辖权将继续在法院、联邦机构和公众中进行辩论。水资源科学将发挥关键作用，帮助确保以科学上可辩护的方式实施CWA，与SWANCC保持一致。需要特别强调的一个领域是进一步研究孤立的沃茨如何有助于确保通航沃茨及其支流的物理、化学和生物完整性。正是这个问题--州内不可航行的孤立水域与水生生态系统其余部分之间的“重要联系”--可能会决定该水域是否会受到CWA的保护。
The 2001 U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County (SWANCC) held that isolated intrastate non-navigable waters could not be protected under the Clean Water Act (CWA) based on the presence of migratory birds. SWANCC represented a major reinterpretation of the CWA by re-emphasizing the importance of navigability in the definition of “waters of the United States” protected by the statute. The decision also implied that isolated waters might be “waters of the United States” where they had a “significant nexus” to navigable waters. Understanding the significance of SWANCC requires a historical look at the geographic scope of federal laws and regulations protecting surface waters. The concept of navigability had been prominent in the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, but the principal implementation focus for the CWA after its enactment in 1972 and prior to SWANCC had been on the hydrologic cycle and the relevance of links to interstate commerce for determining what waters were protected under the CWA. In upcoming years and months, the geographic jurisdiction of the CWA will continue to be debated in the courts, within Federal agencies, and by the public. Aquatic resource science will play a key role in helping ensure that the CWA is implemented in a scientifically defensible manner, consistent with SWANCC. One area in need of particular emphasis is additional research on the ways in which isolated waters help ensure the physical, chemical, and biological integrity of navigable waters and their tributaries. It is this question—the “significant nexus” between an intrastate non-navigable isolated water and the rest of the aquatic ecosystem—that will likely determine whether the water will be protected by the CWA.