The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected increased regulation of logging road runoff, ruling on Oregon-based lawsuits that the timber industry warned would cause regulatory chaos.
In a 7-1 decision, the court reversed a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that said active logging roads need Clean Water Act permits, like those required of factories and feedlots, to better control muddy runoff into streams.
The original cases were brought by the Portland-based Northwest Environmental Defense Center in 2006. The group’s leaders and volunteers took samples in the Tillamook State Forest of muddy water washing into streams from unpaved roads used by logging trucks.
Last year, just before the Supreme Court heard the case, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a new rule clarifying that it would not regulate logging roads as it does industrial “point” sources.
Like farms, forest roads would not need specific permits, the agency said, though states must have plans to deal with pollution from those “non-point” sources.
From Oregon Live: https://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2013/03/timber_industry_celebrates_sup.html