Impacts of the Waters of the US regulation on the mining industry

• Autores: Kasia Patel
• Localización: Industrial Minerals, ISSN 0019-8544, Nº. 581, 2016 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Marzo)
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • In 1972, the US Congress enacted the Clean Water Act (CWA). Section 404 of the Act requires permits for the discharge of dredged or fill material into "navigable waters". What exactly constitutes a "navigable water" has been in dispute now for more than 30 years.

    In 1985, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in the United States v. Riverside Bayview Homes case that CWA jurisdiction extends to adjacent navigable waters. In 2001, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, in Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County (SWANCC) v. Corps of Engineers, rejected the Corps' assertion that it had jurisdiction over isolated ponds. This case came about because the Corps relied on the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution to require a company to have a permit for the filling of old sand and gravel mines for a municipal landfill, as rainwater ponded in isolated pits and migratory birds flying interstate used those pits. Finally, in 2006, in Rapanos v. United States, the court in a plurality decision, ruled that a "significant nexus" was required between a waterway and wetlands for CWA jurisdiction to apply.

    The rule also expands jurisdiction from wh