A Puddle Or Navigable Water?

The Supreme Court rules that an abandoned gravel pit isn't navigable water.

1 minute read

January 16, 2001, 12:00 PM PST

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"For the past 15 years, the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers have regulated nearly every stray puddle in [Illinois]because they just might become a habitat for migratory birds that crossed state lines. Their rulemaking was derisively called the "glancing geese" test, meaning that if a migrating bird even glanced at a water-filled pothole it became part of interstate commerce. Roughly 100 million acres became subject to federal control -- including the gravel pit near Skokie."

Thanks to Chris Steins

Monday, January 15, 2001 in Wall St. Journal

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