Clarifying wetlands

US wetlands law, with its basis in such diverse language as the Commerce Clause and the Clean Water Act, lacks some clarity. A recent Supreme Court decision helped point out how flawed it could be having the whole thing pinned on the definition of "navigable waterways". A NYTimes editorial this week said that:

This tortured middle way has effectively become the law of the land, and for various reasons — including the need to conduct laborious, case-by-case investigations into hydrological linkages among water bodies — it has led to regulatory paralysis.

They supported the proposed legislation that Congress is now considering called the Clean Water Restoration Act.