Washington Federal Judge: Sackett Decision Didn’t Affect CWA Consent Decree

(December 12, 2023, 3:00 PM EST) -- SEATTLE — The U.S. Supreme Court’s adoption of a definition of wetlands for the purposes of the Clean Water Act (CWA) did not constitute a significant change in circumstances that warranted revision of a consent decree entered between the United States, an Indian tribe and two companies over the companies’ alleged illegal discharges of dredged and fill material into protected waters because the definition was previously unchallenged in the case, a Washington federal judge found in denying the companies’ motion to vacate or modify the consent decree....