A stay has been granted for 13 US states, blocking the EPA’s Waters of the United States regulation from taking effect on 28 August. A Federal District Court Judge granted the following states with a preliminary injunction: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. In all, 30 states sued the EPA over implementation of the WOTUS rule, but two other district courts chose not to rule after considering the preliminary injunction, deciding that these were cases for the appellate courts. For these states, the regulation went into effect on 28 August.
Where the preliminary injunction was granted, Judge Erikson called the EPA’s process ‘inexplicable, arbitrary and devoid of a reasoned process’ and that ‘the rule asserts jurisdiction over areas that are remote and intermittent waters’. He added: ‘No evidence actually points to how these intermittent and remote wetlands have any nexus to navigable-in-fact water’.
Commenting on the judge’s findings, NSSGA Senior Vice President of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, Pam Whitted, said: “This preliminary injunction absolutely supports what NSSGA, other industries, and the majority of the states have been saying all along that this rule is not based on sound science and is an unprecedented expansion of the EPA’s jurisdiction. WOTUS will have a huge and immediate effect on industries across the country. NSSGA also is legally challenging the rule, and we hope that eventually the courts will find in favour of the position of the states and businesses that ultimately will bear the effects of the rule.”
Adapted from press release by Katherine Guenioui