In a 7-to-1 decision on March 20, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that logging roads need Clean Water Act permits to control runoff. The court determined that logging roads should not be treated as industrial point sources.
The main concern of the Northwest Environmental Defense Center, which filed the original suit, is that unpaved logging roads send dirt, rock and sand into rivers when it rains, smothering fish eggs, reducing oxygen levels and burying insects fish feed on.
In a 7-to-1 decision on March 20, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that logging roads need Clean Water Act permits to control runoff. The court determined that logging roads should not be treated as industrial point sources.
The main concern of the Northwest Environmental Defense Center, which filed the original suit, is that unpaved logging roads send dirt, rock and sand into rivers when it rains, smothering fish eggs, reducing oxygen levels and burying insects fish feed on.
Prior to the Supreme Court hearing, the Environmental Protection Agency clarified that it would not regulate logging roads, keeping with its 37-year policy of allowing states to regulate management practices, and the ruling puts the ball back in the EPA's court, according to one of the NEDC's attorneys. The NEDC says it will continue pressuring the EPA to act, filing further suits with the 9th circuit court.
The Hardwood Federation said if the 9th Circuit Appeals Court decision had been allowed to stand, landowners would have been required to obtain industrial discharge permits, similar to large factories and other manufacturing facilities, prior to harvesting, rendering forestry operations uneconomical.
The EPA could pressure states to improve logging-road rules and oversight, encouraging logging companies to work to reduce runoff with bioswale sediment traps, road regrading, straw bales placed to stop sediment, and reduced logging in wet conditions, according to an article by The Oregonian. The EPA would not require the level of monitoring and data collection necessitated by the Clean Water Act.