navigable waters. To paraphrase Sir Isaac Newton's first law of
caused by a vessel on
navigable waters, but Judge Brown, who had earlier
In addressing the "point source" requirement of the Clean Water Act, the district court was satisfied that the landfill and ponds were point sources because the rainwater and groundwater seeped through the coal ash, leaching arsenic into groundwater and ultimately into
navigable waters.
In addition, the corps also maintains that it should retain 404 permitting authority over the entirety of wetlands that are "adjacent" to
navigable waters, using the definition of adjacent wetlands currently used for corps' regulatory actions under [section]404 (i.e., the wetlands defined as adjacent under 33 C.F.R.
* Traditional
navigable waters, interstate waters, the territorial seas, and tributaries and impoundments of such waters.
trade and commerce on lakes and
navigable waters connecting those lakes.
to protect
navigable waters is part of the commerce power given to
EPA claimed that a location used as habitat for migratory birds fell within their jurisdiction--known as the "migratory bird rule"--including remote ponds with little connection to
navigable waters. The court ruled that this approach could not be reconciled with the legislative authority for regulating
navigable waters under the CWA.
They included: (1) traditional
navigable waters; (2) interstate waters; (3) territorial seas; and (4) impoundments of the United States.
U.S., and that the final rule contained some provisions related to allowable distances from
navigable waters which were not included in the proposed rule, so those provisions were not subject to public comments.
The 1972 federal Clean Water Act made it illegal to pollute "
navigable waters of the United States." The rule is supposed to clarify what could be defined as "
navigable water."
The CWA prohibits facilities from discharging pollutants into "
navigable waters" without a federal permit, and "
navigable waters" are protected under the CWA, which defines these waters as "Waters of the U.S."
In Rapanos, the Supreme Court considered whether the wetlands "adjacent" to tributaries of "traditional
navigable waters" were WOUS.
The act, which allows regulation of ''
navigable waters,'' was passed under Congress' power to regulate interstate commerce, so ''
navigable waters'' have been understood to be those suitable for transporting people and products between the states.
