WASHINGTON- The U.S. Supreme Court, heeding calls from business and property rights groups, agreed to use a long-running Idaho fight to consider curbing the reach of the 50-year-old Clean Water Act.

The justices said they will hear an appeal from Chantell and Michael Sackett, an Idaho couple waging a 15-year-long battle to build a house on land that federal regulators say is protected wetlands. The Sacketts won a 2012 Supreme Court ruling that let their lawsuit go forward.

The Supreme Court is likely to hear the case in the term that starts in October.

Republican officials from Nebraska and Iowa have long been critical of the Obama-era regulations known as Waters of the United States, or WOTUS.

Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said in a statement that she was pleased the court is taking up the case.

“Since 2015, I’ve fought against the Obama-era WOTUS rule because it is the federal government at its worst: it is overreaching and hurtful to families, communities, and businesses,” she said.

The new case could give companies a freer hand to discharge pollutants and let developers construct more new houses without getting a federal permit. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Home Builders were among the groups urging the Supreme Court to hear the case.

The case becomes the second major environmental clash on the court’s docket. The justices next month will consider limiting the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to address climate change through sweeping reductions of power plant emissions.

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