COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- The South Carolina Supreme Court has upheld rules on regulating freshwater wetlands on the coast.
The State newspaper reported the decision released Monday overturns a 2008 lower-court verdict that had declared invalid state rules protecting the wetlands.
Isolated wetlands have essentially had no federal protection in South Carolina since a 2001 U.S. Supreme Court ruling curtailed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' authority.
That ruling left state regulators with authority to limit or stop development on the soggy land, but that has been questioned.
Stan Barnett is a lawyer for a business group that had challenged state authority and says he has little choice but to accept the new decision.
Developers can get permission to build in wetlands from the Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Information from: The State, http://www.thestate.com
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