Biden Administration ‘Walking Thin Line’ in Alaska Waters Claim

The Biden administration’s assertion last week that it has jurisdiction over most wetlands on Alaska’s North Slope is inflaming tensions over the scope of federal power.

More legal battles are likely because the Army Corps of Engineers is suggesting that wide regions of the country that include wetlands can remain under Clean Water Act jurisdiction even after the Supreme Court in 2023 drastically narrowed the law’s scope in Sackett v. EPA, environmental attorneys say.

The Biden administration “is walking a thin line here,” said Steven Miano, a shareholder at Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller PC. “They are throwing ...