Waters of the United States' and the Future of Wetlands Protection

• Date: 01 September 2019

9-2019 NEWS & ANALYSIS 49 ELR 10821

DIALOGUE

“Waters of the United States” and

the Future of Wetlands Protection

Summary

Federal jurisdiction over wetlands was muddied by

the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2006 decision in Rapa-

nos v. United States, a fractured 4-1-4 ruling with no

clear majority. e Trump Administration is rely-

ing on Justice Scalia’s plurality opinion as the basis

for amending the regulatory “waters of the United

States” (WOTUS) denition, which could remove

federal protections for many wetlands currently regu-

lated under the Clean Water Act. States and localities

are struggling with how to update and clarify their

own wetland-related regulations in light of these ever-

evolving developments. On May 7, 2019, ELI hosted

an expert panel that explored the implications of

Rapanos and the proposed new WOTUS rule for the

future of wetlands. Below, we present a transcript of

the discussion, which has been edited for style, clarity,

and space considerations.

Hannah Keating is Manager of Educational Programs at

the Environmental Law Institute.

Amanda Waters (moderator) is General Counsel at the

National Association of Clean Water Agencies.

Joel Gerwein is Deputy Regional Manager of the

California State Coastal Conservancy.

Greg Sutter is Vice President and General Manager at

Westervelt Ecological Ser vices.

An ge la Waupo chick is a Hydrologist with the

Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohicans.

Hannah Keating: We are delighted to welcome everyone

to this Environmental Law Institute (ELI) 50th anniver-

sary seminar. Today’s seminar is in conjunction with ELI’s

30th Annual National Wetlands Awards celebrating the

work of wetland champions around the country.1

1. For more information, see ELI National Wetlands Awards, Home Page,

http://www.elinwa.org/ (last visited July 9, 2019).

As we begin, I would like to introduce our excellent

moderator for this seminar, Amanda Waters. Amanda is

the general counsel for the National Association of Clean

Water Agencies (NACWA), where she mana ges the organi-

zation’s legal advocacy program and oversees strategic com-

munications. Prior to working at NACWA, she served as

the government aairs counsel for the Water Environment

Federation, where she advised and managed programs

related to federal water legislation. We’re delighted to have

Amanda moderating.

Amanda Waters: anks to ELI for inviting me to moder-

ate this panel with some amazing experts in this eld. I’m

going to introduce each of them briey.

Joel Gerwein is deputy regional manager for the Cali-

fornia State Coastal Conser vancy, which was established

in 1976 to protect and improve natura l lands and water-

ways to help people get to and enjoy the outdoors, and to

sustain local economies along California’s coast. It’s a non-

regulatory agency t hat supports projects to protect coastal

resources. Joel has spent more than a decade at the Conser-

vancy working to protect and restore coasta l ecosystems,

especially wetla nds on the nor thern California coast with a

focus on Humboldt Bay.

Next, we have Greg Sutter who serves as vice president

and general manager of Westervelt Ecological Services. He

works on mitigation and restoration planning and imple-

mentation th roughout nort hern Ca lifornia, and ha s done

so for more than 40 years. Greg has particular techn ical

expertise in brackish, tidal marsh, riparian, and riverine

systems. He’s an acknowledged leader in mitigation plan-

ning, design, and implementation, and oversees all of

Westervelt’s busines s planning and bud geting.

Last, but not least, is Angela Waupochick. She’s been

a hydrologist for the Stockbridge-Munsee Community

Band of Mohican Indians for almost nine years. She

began her tenure with the tribe as a geographic informa-

tion system (GIS) specialist contributing to the tribe’s

rst wetland funct ions mapping project. She became fur-

ther immersed in 2011 when she was hired as a wetland

Copyright © 2019 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. Reprinted with permission from ELR®, http://www.eli.org, 1-800-433-5120.