Page:Sackett v. EPA (2023).pdf/33

Rh the ecological consequences of a narrower definition of adjacent. But the CWA does not define the EPA’s jurisdiction based on ecological importance, and we cannot redraw the Act’s allocation of authority. See Rapanos, 547 U. S., at 756 (plurality opinion). “The Clean Water Act anticipates a partnership between the States and the Federal Government.” Arkansas v. Oklahoma, 503 U. S. 91, 101 (1992). States can and will continue to exercise their primary authority to combat water pollution by regulating land and water use. See, e.g., Brief for Farm Bureau of Arkansas et al. as Amici Curiae 17–27.

Nothing in the separate opinions filed by and  undermines our analysis. claims that we have “rewrit[ten]” the CWA, (opinion concurring in judgment), and  levels similar charges,  (opinion concurring in judgment). These arguments are more than unfounded. We have analyzed the statutory language in detail, but the separate opinions pay no attention whatsoever to §1362(7), the key statutory provision that limits the CWA’s geographic reach to “the waters of the United States.” Thus, neither separate opinion even attempts to explain how the wetlands included in their interpretation fall within a fair reading of “waters.” Textualist arguments that ignore the operative text cannot be taken seriously.

In sum, we hold that the CWA extends to only those “wetlands with a continuous surface connection to bodies that are ‘waters of the United States’ in their own right,” so that they are “indistinguishable” from those waters. Rapanos, 547 U. S., at 742, 755 (plurality opinion) (emphasis deleted); see. This holding compels reversal here. The wetlands on the Sacketts’ property are distinguishable