Last year I did an article about some environmental activists who had filed suit to force the EPA to follow their own rules and regulate run-off from the logging industry. In effect, that could even have led to mud puddles being regulated.
The liberal 9th Circuit judges ruled in the environmentalists favor.
The court said that the EPA has been misinterpreting its own rules for 35 years, and that, in fact, forest roads must be regulated in similar fashion to factories and power plants.
The Ninth Circuit decision, if upheld, would crush forestry in the Pacific Northwest. As Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon put it, “One court would shut down forestry on private, state and tribal lands by subjecting it to the same, endless cycle of litigation.”
The case headed to the U.S. Supreme Court and yesterday SCOTUS overturned the lower court’s decision:
In a 7-1 decision, the court reversed a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that said active logging roads need Clean Water Act permits, like those required of factories and feedlots, to better control muddy runoff into stream.
The logging industry is celebrating a major victory today as new regulatory burdens would have added chaos to the industry jeopardizing jobs and increasing prices.
Hey 9th Circuit: this shows you CAN get smacked-down.
Crossposted at Unified Patriots and Grumpy Opinions
