In 2023, in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, the Supreme Court narrowed the scope of “waters of the United States” covered by the federal Clean Water Act. On June 11-12, 2024, the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) and Coleman P. Burke Center for Environmental Law co-sponsored, “Sackett v. EPA-One Year Out,” an interdisciplinary conference examining the implications and consequences of the decision one year out. The conference was hosted at the law school, and financial support was provided by the Walton Family Foundation.
The Supreme Court’s Sackett decision dramatically narrowed the extent to which wetlands and ephemeral streams are subject to federal regulation as part of the “waters of the United States.” Specifically, the majority held that wetlands and other waters that lack a continuous surface water connection to traditionally navigable waters are unlikely to be subject to federal regulation. During the conference, experts from multiple disciplines analyzed how this contraction of federal regulatory authority impacts efforts to conserve wetlands and maintain water quality, and the extent to which interventions by state governments, conservation efforts by NGOs, and non-regulatory measures may supplant the loss of regulatory protection.
Panels covered topics ranging from post-Sackett jurisdictional determinations and Clean Water Act enforcement, ongoing litigation over the scope of Clean Water Act jurisdiction and regulatory strictures, and state wetland conservations efforts, among other topics. The second day featured a keynote address by Madeline Heim, an environmental reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, who spoke on “Communicating Environmental Issues to the Heartland.” The conference concluded with a field trip to the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District that included some of the wetlands restoration projects the district has undertaken as it modernizes its systems.
A full agenda of the conference is below. Papers from the conference will be published in the Tulane Environmental Law Journal and video will be available at a later date.
Sackett v. EPA – One Year Out Program
The Post-Sackett Policy Strategy and Litigation Landscape
- Jon Devine, Senior Attorney and Director, Freshwater Ecosystems and Nature, Natural Resources Defense Council
- Deidre Duncan, Partner, Hunton Andrews Kurth
- Damien Schiff, Senior Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation
- Jay Austin, ELI (moderator)
Filling the vacuum: How will we govern wetlands in the future?
- Jim Murphy, Director of Legal Advocacy, National Wildlife Federation
- Steph Tai, Professor of Law, University of Wisconsin
- Tess Wilkerson, Staff Attorney, ELI
- Stacy Zeigler, Wetlands Specialist, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe
- Haley Gentry, Tulane Water Institute
Tools and methods to determine jurisdictional status
- Royal Gardner, Professor, Stetson University College of Law
- Adam Gold, Manager, Climate Resilient Coasts and Watersheds – NC and VA, Environmental Defense Fund
- Simon Greenhill, PhD Candidate, University of California at Berkeley
- Rebecca Kihslinger, Senior Science and Policy Analyst, ELI (moderator)
In the Trenches: Implementation and Enforcement Issues at the State Level
- Aaron Farmer, Chief of Environmental Enforcement, Ohio Attorney General’s Office
- William Fischbein, Supervising Attorney--Surface Water, Ohio EPA
- Derek Schaffer, Executive Director, West Creek Conservancy
- Cody Weisbrodt, State Policy Research Associate, The Nature Conservancy, Ohio (moderator)
In the Trenches: Implementation and Enforcement Issues at the Federal Level
- Natalia Cabrera, Attorney, U.S. EPA
- Greg Snowden, Senior Biologist, Stream and Wetlands Foundation
- Victor Flatt, CWRU School of Law (moderator)
Keynote: Communicating Environmental Issues in the Heartland
- Madeline Heim, Environment Reporter, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Mississippi River Basin Ag and Water Desk, University of Missouri
Evolving environmental conditions, law and policy innovation
- Shannon Roesler, Professor of Law and Faculty Director, Hubbell Environmental Law Initiative, University of Iowa
- Sonya Ziaja, Assistant Professor of Law, University of Baltimore School of Law
- Regina M. Buono, ELI (moderator)
Beyond Sacket: Broader trends in environmental law
- Jonathan H. Adler, CWRU School of Law
- Pat Parenteau, Professor of Law Emeritus and Senior Fellow for Climate Policy, Vermont Law
- Sandy Thiam, ELI (moderator)