06/21/06 Clean Water Act ruling as clear as mud

Teton County developer Lynn Moses has been convicted and sentenced but he's going to appeal a federal court ruling. He's the first person sentenced on criminal charges under the federal Clean Water Act. The Environmental Protection Agency says he filled in part of Teton Creek for a housing development. At the same time that federal judge Lynn Winmill was giving Moses an 18 month sentence and a nine thousand dollar fine, the US Supreme Court was restricting federal authority to regulate wetlands and tributaries to major rivers and streams. In its five to four decision says American Farm Bureau attorney Julianna Potts, one of the five justices saw it differently. POTTS "Justice Kennedy's opinion creates confusion where he says non-navigable waters, the wetlands adjacent to those, on a case by case basis may be jurisdictional." Congressional Quarterly calls this week's ruling complicated and it could take months to fully understand it. Does it mean that Idaho's 35 hundred miles of canals and ditches can be altered and managed with our federal permits? Congressional Quarterly also reports that lawmakers in the House and Senate are already offering up legislation that would likely overturn the high court ruling. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott