Article excerpts:

“Whether the Trump administration continues to pursue a Clean Water Act case against a Bruneau, Idaho, ranch will not be decided until at least the end of August, as a federal court granted an abeyance to the federal government until Aug. 21, 2025.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho last week granted the Trump administration motion for an additional 90 days to review the case against Ace Black Ranches, considering the administration's revisiting of the waters of the U.S. rule currently in process.

The U.S. Environmental Protect Agency alleged the ranch made several alterations to the Bruneau River and surrounding wetlands as part of a sand and gravel operation on the property. The agency alleged the ranch had been operating without a Clean Water Act dredge-and-fill permit.

An amended complaint shows before-and-after satellite photos purporting to show eight connection points between the Bruneau River and wetlands on the ranch. The EPA alleges there were at least four continuous surface connections between wetlands and the river disrupted by the ranch.

The current development of a new WOTUS rule is focusing on covering only wetlands that have a continuous surface connection, based on the Supreme Court's ruling in Sackett v EPA.

On March 12, 2025, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and EPA issued a new memorandum that provides new field guidance concerning the implementation of the continuous surface connection requirement following the Sackett ruling.

Once the WOTUS stakeholder process is completed at the end of the summer, the federal agencies are required to submit a status report with the court on the Ace Black case.

The national guidance memo written by the Trump administration gives direction on what field officers are to consider when looking at adjacent wetlands.

Based on the Sackett decision, the administration said wetlands must directly abut jurisdictional waters with no clear demarcation between them.”

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