Supreme Court Rules For Logging Industry Against EPA Rules

Agency can't make them get special permits over dirt, gravel displacement

In a defeat for environmentalists, the Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with the U.S. timber industry in a dispute over whether loggers should have to get special EPA permits because of gravel and dirt falling into nearby waterways. 

In a 7-1 vote, the court reversed a lower-court ruling which said the run-off from logging sites is the same as any other industrial pollution, requiring a Clean Water Act permit from the Environmental Protection Agency.