News

Growing list of states suing EPA

There’s a growing list of states now suing the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers over the EPA’s Clean Water Act rule which expands the definition of ‘Waters of the United States’ (WOTUS).

Ohio and Michigan are among the 27 states that have filed suit.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine says the rule clearly violates both the language and the spirit of the Clean Water Act. DeWine called it another example of the Obama Administration overreaching its authority. The lawsuit asks for the court to vacate the rule.

Thirteen states including Missouri, Nebraska and the Dakotas filed suit in North Dakota to stop the rule. Missouri’s Attorney General says the official definition by EPA “extends the agencies’ regulation far beyond what a reasonable person considers to be a waterway.”

In federal court in Houston, Mississippi and Louisiana joined Texas in asking the court to declare the Clean Water Act rule unconstitutional. They call it an “impermissible expansion of federal power over the states.”

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin filed a similar suit in Savannah, Georgia federal court Tuesday.

In a statement, EPA says while it cannot comment on the lawsuits, the agencies conducted more than 400 meetings, reviewed over one million public comments and listened carefully to perspectives from all sides. “The Agencies developed a rule that ensures that waters protected under the Clean Water Act are more precisely defined, more predictably determined and easier for businesses and industry to understand.”