In Dakota Finance LLC v. Naturaland Trust, the Smiths (who purchased part of the land to form Arabella Farm under the LLC) ask the justices to clarify what threshold of state regulation precludes citizen suits under the CWA. They argue that South Carolina “commenced … an action” to enforce the act when it issued notice of a hearing over whether Arabella’s construction was unlawful. To rule otherwise would dismantle the structure of cooperative federalism Congress built into the CWA, they contend, demoting the primary role played by states in helping to protect the nation’s waters in favor of a mechanism intended solely as a back-up.
Dakota Finance
