Committee advances memorial urging Congress to adopt Sackett standard for WOTUS

The Senate Resources & Environment Committee on March 11 voted to advance HJM 13, a memorial asking Congress to codify the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency decision and urging the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers to comply with that ruling. Senator Lakey introduced the memorial, saying it responds to what sponsors call federal overreach in the agency definitions of Waters of the United States (WOTUS).

Damien Schiff of the Pacific Legal Foundation told the committee he represented Mike and Chantell Sackett in litigation that culminated in the Supreme Court ruling. The Sacketts described federal enforcement actions that halted construction on their private lot; Chantell Sackett told the committee, “Ms. Sackett estimated that as of the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, they owed the government $468 million.” Senator Cook moved and Senator Harris seconded a motion to send HJM 13 to the floor with a do pass recommendation; the motion carried by voice vote.

The memorial requests federal legislative action to align agency practice with the Sackett decision, which the committee record described as interpreting "navigable waters" to mean relatively permanent, continuously flowing waters and limiting regulation of wetlands to those indistinguishable from such waters. The committee did not take further state-level regulatory action during the hearing; HJM 13 now proceeds to the Senate floor.