Published by Environmental Law Institute’s Environmental Forum November/December 2024
In a landmark response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Sackett v. EPA decision—which stripped federal Clean Water Act protections from over half of the nation’s wetlands and streams—Maryland has passed the Clean Water Justice Act of 2024. Co-authored by Evan Isaacson of Chesapeake Legal Alliance and Betsy Nicholas of Potomac Riverkeeper Network, the article in The Environmental Forum details how Maryland lawmakers, advocates, and community groups worked together to restore the public’s right to enforce clean water laws.
The new law fills critical enforcement gaps left by Sackett, empowering citizens to take legal action against illegal pollution of smaller and isolated waterways. It builds on years of legislative progress to strengthen Maryland’s environmental enforcement, transparency, and accountability.
As federal protections continue to erode, Maryland’s leadership offers a model for other states—showing that communities can still defend their waters, even when federal safeguards fall away.
