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Experts Hash Out Top Court’s Wetlands Opinions
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s June decision in the Rapanos and Carabell cases, 12 environmental experts from around the country gathered at the NAHB offices in Washington Nov. 27-28 for a look at the ramifications for the nation’s housing industry.
Builders, developers and even regulators are looking for answers to what the justices meant when they said that there must be a “significant nexus” to a navigable body of water for a piece of property to be subject to regulation under the federal Clean Water Act.
The confusion has turned development plans on their heads in many parts of the country — some for the better, as regulators relax their permitting requirements while they await official guidance – but most for the worse — like for some Ohio builders, who have seen the permitting process stalled completely while their local U.S. Army Corps of Engineers office awaits a ruling from Washington.
“Consistency is a pervasive issue throughout the country,” said Environmental Issues Committee Vice Chairman David Smith, who facilitated the discussion of wetlands experts, engineers and biologists. “For that reason, it’s the No. 1 objective for this endeavor. The Corps and the Environmental Protection Agency don’t really know what to do right now.”
Legal minds have weighed in on many of the jurisdictional arguments, but what the government needs is a way of assessing what kinds of streams, wetlands, ditches and puddles do and don’t belong in which category — and a rational reason for “why.” That’s a discussion that best belongs to the scientific community, Smith pointed out.
NAHB staff is preparing notes on the conclusions that were reached during the discussions, which will be followed by a round of discussions by telephone. When a consensus has been reached, NAHB leaders will share the document with the membership — and with regulators looking for well-reasoned arguments, Smith said.
For more information, e-mail Calli Schmidt at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8132.
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