Judge shifts legal brawl, revives WOTUS in 26 states

Photo: A federal judge has revived the Obama-era Waters of the U.S. [WOTUS] rule in 26 states. Montgomery County Planning Commission/Flickr

The Obama-era Clean Water Rule became the law in 26 states today as a federal judge in South Carolina issued a nationwide injunction on the Trump administration’s delay of the regulation that defines what wetlands and waterways get federal protection.

The injunction targets the Trump administration’s February order suspending the rule while EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers worked up a new version. The Southern Environmental Law Center sued on behalf of several environmental groups, saying the administration rushed the rulemaking and violated the Administrative Procedure Act.

U.S. District Judge David Norton for the District of South Carolina agreed with the greens, saying the administration failed to seek public comment on the substance of rule or the implications of delaying the regulation by two years.

"Certainly, different administrations may implement different regulatory priorities, but the [Administrative Procedure Act] ‘requires that the pivot from one administration’s priorities to those of the next be accomplished with at least some fidelity to law and legal process,’" Norton wrote in his order.

"The agencies failed […]

Full article: Judge shifts legal brawl, revives WOTUS in 26 states

More about Waters of the U.S. and the Clean Water Rule:

Supreme Court rules against Trump administration on Clean Water rule

Don’t be silent about the EPA Clean Water rollback

One-Third of Americans’ Drinking Water May Be Deregulated by EPA

Pruitt takes over authority for EPA water protections policy