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7 Earth Jurisprudence & Envtl. Just. J. 5 (2017)

handle is hein.journals/earjujo7 and id is 1 raw text is: 









   IT-SALL DOWNHILL FROM HERE: HOW THE
   NATION S DISPUTE WITH CLEAN WATER ACT
               J URISDICTION IS SOLVED

                                              Spencer H. Newman*

                            ABSTRACT

    What   makes the  United States one of the most prosperous and
safest nations in the modern world? Perhaps it is the durable econorry,
the strong military force, or the Constitutional protections. What most
Americans  take for granted, however, is something people  in many
nations base their entire lives around: safe, clean water. Promulgated in
1972, the original Clean Water Act has been opposed and amended over
the course of forty years. No provision, however, has been as hotly
contested as  the  f 404  program   for 'dredge  and  fill - permits.
Specifically, this section led to divisions on what constitutes 'water
that is subject to Clean Water Act  jurisdiction and what does not.
Hoping  to solve the confusion once and for all, the E PA -s 'Clean Water
Rule_ was published in 2015. The Rule, however, was immediately met
with litigation and was hit with a nationwide stay by the Sixth Circuit.
    This  article is the first to collectively address the pending
arguments  against the Rule while arguing that the adoption of Justice
Kennedy-s  significant nexus test was the best option. When the Sixth
Circuit makes its decision on the merits, the decision will likely make it
to the Supreme  Court. The Court  should find that contrary to many
allegations, the Rule does not violate the Administrative Procedure Act,
the Commerce Clause, or the Clear Statement Canon. Further, by
applying the 2016 Hawkes  Co. ruling, the Court should be able to ease



* The author is a May 2018 J uris Doctor candidate at The University of Mississippi
School of Law, a Staff Editor of Volume 86 of the Mississippi Law journal, and a
member of the Pace National Environmental Moot Court Team at Ole Miss. He
received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Mississippi State University in
2015. The author wishes to thank Dean Jack Wade Nowlin and Professor David W.
Case for their guidance and support throughout the writing process as well as his fellow
staff editors of the Mississippi LawJ ournal.
                                 5

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