OPINION

Federal Judge Blocks EPA and Corps’ Water Rule From Going into Effect

Daren Bakst • August 28, 2015

On Aug. 27, 2015, a federal district judge in North Dakota issued an order delaying the effective date of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s and the Army Corps of Engineers’ rule defining what waters they can regulate under the Clean Water Act.

According to a press release from the North Dakota attorney general’s office:

In today’s order, Judge Erickson agreed that the rule should be delayed during the ongoing litigation, stating “the states are likely to succeed on their claim because (1) it appears likely that the EPA has violated its Congressional grant of authority in its promulgation of the Rule at issue and (2) it appears likely the EPA failed to comply with APA [Administrative Procedure Act] requirements when promulgating the Rule.”

This order is timely because the rule was to go into effect on August 28, 2015.

The lawsuit was brought by Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, the New Mexico Environment Department, and the New Mexico State Engineer. It isn’t clear as of now whether the injunction applies beyond these states.

This decision is a certainly a good sign and confirms what critics of the rule have been saying: The rule goes way too far, and the process was seriously flawed.

Congress has still not passed a law to block the rule, which is shocking, given how much concern many legislators have expressed regarding the rule. They already have wide support for killing the rule. This decision should help make the case for legislation to kill the rule even stronger.

Daren Bakst | Contributor

Daren Bakst is the director of the Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

Follow on X darenbakst

Read the first chapter of The Woketopus right now for FREE

Today, even with President Trump’s victory, leftist elites have their tentacles in every aspect of our government.

The Daily Signal’s own Tyler O’Neil exposes this leftist cabal in his new book, The Woketopus: The Dark Money Cabal Manipulating the Federal Government.

In this book, O’Neil reveals how the Left’s NGO apparatus pursues its woke agenda, maneuvering like an octopus by circumventing Congress and entrenching its interests in the federal government.
You can read the first chapter of this new book for FREE in this eBook, The Woketopus: Chapter One using the secure link below.

GET MY FREE EBOOK