The Unreasonable Bird Rule

Recognizing that Congress did not intend to regulate all wetlands as "waters of the United States" under the CWA, the regulations of both EPA and the Corps assert jurisdiction over wetlands only if the destruction or degradation of the wetland could affect interstate commerce. This necessary effect on commerce could be established by an area's potential use by migratory waterfowl, leading to abandonment of a case-by-case approach to wetlands in favor of widespread federal regulations into any possible qualifying wetland.