Cite as: 531 U. S. 159 (2001)
Stevens, J., dissenting
The Corps' broadened reading of its jurisdiction provoked opposition among some Members of Congress. As a result, in 1977, Congress considered a proposal that would have limited the Corps' jurisdiction under § 404 to waters that are used, or by reasonable improvement could be used, as a means to transport interstate or foreign commerce and their adjacent wetlands. H. R. 3199, 95th Cong., 1st Sess., § 16(f) (1977). A bill embodying that proposal passed the House but was defeated in the Senate. The debates demonstrate that Congress was fully aware of the Corps' understanding of the scope of its jurisdiction under the 1972 Act. We summarized these debates in our opinion in Riverside Bayview:
"In both Chambers, debate on the proposals to narrow the definition of navigable waters centered largely on the issue of wetlands preservation. See [123 Cong. Rec.], at 10426-10432 (House debate); id., at 26710-26729 (Senate debate). Proponents of a more limited § 404 jurisdiction contended that the Corps' assertion of jurisdiction over wetlands and other nonnavigable 'waters' had far exceeded what Congress had intended in enacting § 404. Opponents of the proposed changes argued that a narrower definition of 'navigable waters' for purposes of § 404 would exclude vast stretches of crucial wetlands from the Corps' jurisdiction, with detrimental effects on wetlands ecosystems, water quality, and the aquatic environment generally. The debate, particularly in the Senate, was lengthy. In the House, the debate ended with the adoption of a narrowed definition of
rules. The "rule," which operates as a rule of thumb for identifying the waters that fall within the Corps' jurisdiction over phase 3 waters, first appeared in the preamble to a 1986 repromulgation of the Corps' definition of "navigable waters." 51 Fed. Reg. 41217 (1986). As the Corps stated in the preamble, this repromulgation was not intended to alter its jurisdiction in any way. Ibid. Instead, the Corps indicated, the migratory bird rule was enacted simply to "clarif[y]" the scope of existing jurisdictional regulations. Ibid.
185
Page: Index Previous 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007