So much has been written, particularly over the past week or so, about the series of 5-4 votes in the U.S. Supreme Court where President Bush's most enduring legacy is being recorded. While much has been made about the Court's ruling outlawing race-based discrimination and restoring the erosion of political free speech under the McCain-Feingold campaign finance "reform," other less-discussed opinions will have far-reaching impacts on the salt industry.

Perhaps most important among them was the June 25th decision in National Ass'n of Home Builders v. Defenders of Wildlife . The Supreme Court reversed an appeals court ruling that had, in effect, established the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as a super-statute that was given priority when its dictates conflicted with other laws. This grew out of the infamous "snail darter" case thirty years ago that held the ESA "require[s federal] agencies to afford first priority to the declared national policy of saving endangered species." The NAHB ruling examined a conflict of the ESA with the Clean Water Act and the court ruled that the agencies should consult together to resolve the problem, not sacrifice pollution control rules as the preferred outcome. The ESA has been employed regarding solar salt production and this ruling is a step forward for rational (and more flexible) public policy.