MOUNT PLEASANT — Hundreds of acres of wetlands were stripped of federal protection in 2023, leaving them vulnerable to development. Now, town leaders want to restore oversight to pick up where federal agencies left off.

Mount Pleasant town staffers are in the early stages of writing an ordinance that would require town approval for future projects and developments to ensure the countless pockets of isolated wetlands remain undisturbed.

A U.S. Supreme Court decision rolling back Environmental Protection Agency oversight on non-continuous wetlands two years ago left much of the country’s wetlands unprotected . Following the Sackett v. EPA decision, only wetlands with a continuous surface connection to bodies of water are restricted from development under the Clean Water Act.

Preliminary

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