A recent court ruling has brought one step closer to resolution the long-simmering dispute between the Army Corps of Engineers on the one hand and EPA, the Department of Justice, and numerous environmental groups on the other, concerning the proper scope of federal regulatory jurisdiction over dredge and fill activities throughout the nation. The Corps' position has been that §404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 does not significantly expand the Corps' traditionally limited jurisdiction over the depositing of dredged or fill material in "navigable waters." EPA and several environmental groups have contended, however, that §404 does indeed enlarge the scope of the Corps' fill jurisdiction so as to cover such projects in "waters of the United States," a much broader category of water resources including for instance, environmentally critical, non-tidal, inland wetlands.

The Corps' refusal to accept this expanded jurisdiction in its initial regulations governing the issuance of dredge and fill permits was challenged in federal district court by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the National Wildlife Federation. The primary motivation behind both the enactment of §404 and the filing of the lawsuit challenging the Corps' implementation of that provision was the protection of the nation's rapidly dwindling wetlands areas. These areas serve a number of vital ecological functions, including fish and shellfish propagation, recharge of groundwater supplies, natural flood control, biological and chemical water purification, and wildlife habitat. Yet, according to the National Wildlife Federal, the United States has already lost 40 percent—45 million acres—of its wetland resources, largely to filling projects.