An Idaho couple has been granted permission by the Supreme Court to challenge the Environmental Protection Agency over an order that prevented the couple from building on their property. The EPA threatened to fine them more than $30,000 a day.
The AP reports:
Wednesday’s decision is a victory for Mike and Chantell Sackett, whose property near a scenic lake has sat undisturbed since the EPA ordered a halt in work in 2007. The agency said part of the property was a wetlands that could not disturbed without a permit.
In an opinion by Justice Antonin Scalia, the court rejected EPA’s argument that allowing property owners quick access to courts to contest orders like the one issued to the Sacketts would compromise the agency’s ability to deal with water pollution.