John Cruden Quoted in E&E News Greenwire on Environmental Regulation on Reservation Lands

Principal John Cruden (Washington, DC) was quoted in “Supreme Court could curb agency powers” in E&E News Greenwire, regarding the impact of a Supreme Court case, McGirt v. Oklahoma, which dealt with whether the state had jurisdiction over a criminal case brought against a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation for an alleged crime on reservation land. The decision has implications for environmental regulation within the state.

John commented that the Supreme Court justices are unlikely to overturn the decision based on Oklahoma’s arguments that the ruling has caused “sweeping turmoil” within the state.

Concerning the scope of the Clean Water Act, he said that the justices haven’t yet returned to the debate over Clean Water Act "Waters of the United States (WOTUS)" jurisdiction, despite the regulatory back-and-forth since 2006, when the issue was last in court.

“They have never taken another WOTUS case after Rapanos,” he said of the Supreme Court.

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