John A. Rapanos
PER
Rapanos John A. Rapanos
M. Reed Hopper of the Pacific Legal Foundation, who represents one developer, John A. Rapanos, argues that the existing interpretation of the law infringes on the rights of states and individuals and impermissibly gives the federal government authority over any area. Mr. Rapanos defied state regulators, who, acting with federal authority specifically delegated by the E.P.A., told him not to fill his wetland without a permit. The wetlands owned by Mr. Rapanos and two others, in addition to the one where the shopping center was once planned, are as far as 20 miles from local rivers, but adjacent to ditches that drain into tributaries of those rivers.