On August 27, 2015, the
U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota granted a motion to enjoin
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from applying the Clean Water
Rule. This regulation changes the scope of “Waters of the United States”
federally regulated under the Clean Water Act. The rule was scheduled to be
effective on August 28, 2015.
In June 2015, a group
of states led by North Dakota challenged the Clean Water Rule alleging that the
rule would unlawfully supersede state laws vesting jurisdiction over state land
and water resources beyond the limits established under the Clean Water Act. On
August 10, 2015, the states filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against
the implementation of said rule arguing that it would “irreparably harm” their
sovereign interests during the pendency of litigation.
The U.S. District Court
held that “a balancing of the harms and analysis of the public interest reveals
that the risk of harm to the States is great and the burden on [EPA] is
slight.” It also emphasized that EPA failed to demonstrate a nexus between
“Waters of the United States” and those streams and wetlands having high
potential to impact said “Waters of the United States”.
Therefore, the U.S.
District Court concluded that the states are likely to be successful in their
claims because “it appears that the EPA has violated its Congressional grant of
authority in its promulgation of the Rule at issue, and . . . it appears likely
the EPA failed to comply with APA requirements when promulgating the rule.”
Further information on
this case is available at docket no. 3:15-cv-00059. This is an update of an original
post
dated August 13, 2015.
Written by Chloe Marie - Research Fellow
08/28/2015
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