jack

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/596865

Following on the heels of a Supreme Court ruling in Sackett v. EPA in May, the Biden administration recently approved an amendment that weakens Clean Water Act protections for wetlands. The EPA regulation language on wetlands was amended — while excluding the standard public review process — with EPA administrator Michael Regan stating there was “no alternative” due to the court’s ruling.

Despite claims from the Biden administration and the EPA that their hands are tied, the Sackett ruling — along with any other Supreme Court rulings — could be overturned by Congress if the political will existed to do so. While many individual states could pass their own protections for wetlands that supersede the EPA regulations, 20 U.S. states have statutes in place that prohibit them from having regulations that are more stringent than federal regulations. Environmental organizations, Native tribes and others are opposing the Supreme Court ruling and EPA regulation change, and there are likely to be lawsuits against this rollback of wetland protections.

More than 50% of U.S. wetlands have been destroyed since colonization began. Why does this matter? Who wants a swamp in their backyard anyway?

Developers and agricultural interests have led the charge of draining, filling in and paving over wetland areas, which are everything from ephemeral vernal pools, swamps, bogs, and coastal salt marshes, to waterlogged floodplains around rivers and lakes. Many wetlands disappear above ground during dry times and re-emerge during rainy periods. All wetlands are crucial to flood prevention and drought, acting as sponges for rainfall and holding water above or below ground during dry times to continue feeding plant life. Just one acre of wetland can store over one million gallons of flood waters.

More in the link!

Following on the heels of a Supreme Court ruling in Sackett v. EPA in May, the Biden administration recently approved an amendment that weakens Clean Water Act protections for wetlands. The EPA regulation language on wetlands was amended — while excluding the standard public review process — with EPA administrator Michael Regan stating there was “no alternative” due to the court’s ruling.

Despite claims from the Biden administration and the EPA that their hands are tied, the Sackett ruling — along with any other Supreme Court rulings — could be overturned by Congress if the political will existed to do so. While many individual states could pass their own protections for wetlands that supersede the EPA regulations, 20 U.S. states have statutes in place that prohibit them from having regulations that are more stringent than federal regulations. Environmental organizations, Native tribes and others are opposing the Supreme Court ruling and EPA regulation change, and there are likely to be lawsuits against this rollback of wetland protections.

More than 50% of U.S. wetlands have been destroyed since colonization began. Why does this matter? Who wants a swamp in their backyard anyway?

Developers and agricultural interests have led the charge of draining, filling in and paving over wetland areas, which are everything from ephemeral vernal pools, swamps, bogs, and coastal salt marshes, to waterlogged floodplains around rivers and lakes. Many wetlands disappear above ground during dry times and re-emerge during rainy periods. All wetlands are crucial to flood prevention and drought, acting as sponges for rainfall and holding water above or below ground during dry times to continue feeding plant life. Just one acre of wetland can store over one million gallons of flood waters.

More in the link!

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/587089

This could be a massive boon to the city. Fingers crossed it actually comes to fruition!

This could be a massive boon to the city. Fingers crossed it actually comes to fruition!

My wife can't handle a spider that huge right on our window so I gotta move her. It's knocking down the web when she's not in it sufficient?

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/573249

In recent years, the Cuyahoga County court system has drastically cut its use of cash bail. That means fewer people sit in jail while awaiting trial.

The shift followed calls to dismantle a bail process that created a two-tier system: one for those who could pay for their freedom and one for those who could not. Local and national reports showed those who could not were most often poor or Black.

The Marshall Project reviewed the bail decisions Cuyahoga County judges made in nearly 70,000 felony cases filed between 2016 and 2022 to understand how their bail practices had changed. Overall, judges are now setting cash bail in felony cases far less frequently and are more often setting personal bonds — which don’t require payment for release.

Check the link for the whole story. There's been positive changes, but nothing institutional to ensure they keep going.

In recent years, the Cuyahoga County court system has drastically cut its use of cash bail. That means fewer people sit in jail while awaiting trial.

The shift followed calls to dismantle a bail process that created a two-tier system: one for those who could pay for their freedom and one for those who could not. Local and national reports showed those who could not were most often poor or Black.

The Marshall Project reviewed the bail decisions Cuyahoga County judges made in nearly 70,000 felony cases filed between 2016 and 2022 to understand how their bail practices had changed. Overall, judges are now setting cash bail in felony cases far less frequently and are more often setting personal bonds — which don’t require payment for release.

Check the link for the whole story. There's been positive changes, but nothing institutional to ensure they keep going.