The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has enforced a nationwide stay of the Environmental Protection Agency's and Army Corps of Engineer's Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rules. The move is a step forward in reigning in the WOTUS rule, and an affirmation of the success achieved by the New Mexico Environment Department, Office of the State Engineer, and 12 other Rocky Mountain coalition states.
The Rocky Mountain coalition of states - North Dakota, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, South Dakota, Wyoming, and New Mexico's Environment Dept. and Office of the State Engineer had in Aug 2014 had asked for and were granted postponement of the WOTUS rule until such time as full litigation over it ran its course, reports MV Telegraph.
WOTUS, if passed, would have increased the size of federally protected waters by three percent, but garnered wide-spread criticism over the waters defined in the proposed rule.
"The EPA is trying to dramatically expand the definition of what is a water of the United States, and the way the statute works the Federal Government has been given the ability to regulate 'navigable waters. You don't typically think of an ephemeral stream or a backyard ditch, and so what the EPA tried to do in the Waters of the United States rule is dramatically expand their jurisdiction to regulate some of these waterways,'" said Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, according to WV Metro News.
"The uncertainty surrounding the future of WOTUS hangs like the sword of Damocles over landowners throughout the United States. EPA's rule is so Draconian that, if it goes into effect in anything like its current form, it will force a substantial number of people to abandon their farms, ranches, and other businesses," said Craig Rucker, executive director of the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, according to Heartlander.
With the nationwide stay, litigation on the rule will continue.
