Tin Cup, LLC owns 455 acres in North Pole, Alaska, where its pipe fabrication company builds needed equipment for the North Slope oil fields. The growing company wants to relocate to a larger area where it can temporarily store pipe and other manufactured materials. The relocation requires laying down gravel, which the Clean Water Act considers a pollutant, so Tin Cup sought permission from the Corps of Engineers. The bureaucrats, however, ruled that 200 acres of permafrost in the relocation area are navigable waters under the Clean Water Act and therefore subject to federal regulation.
The problem is the Corps’ dubious definition of navigable waters.
In 1992, Congress told the federal government to base wetlands determinations on a 1987 technical manual. However, the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers are evading that manual by creating regional guidance documents to justify expanding agency reach beyond what’s authorized by the 1987 manual. One such document is called the “Alaska Supplement”; it sweeps permafrost, which covers vast swaths of Alaska, under federal jurisdiction, preventing property owners from making productive use of their land.
Tin Cup asked the Supreme Court to review the Corps’ permafrost enforcement for their private property. The Supreme Court denied the request on April 27, 2019.
What’s At Stake?
- The Clean Water Act requires the Corps of Engineers to use a national manual to ensure a consistent, standard definition of wetlands throughout the country.
- The Corps’ habit of expanding its jurisdiction by writing supplemental local wetlands rules violates Congress’ specific orders that the agency operate under national guidelines.
