Federal Judges Issue Injunctions on WOTUS Rule

A federal court judge in Texas has issued a preliminary injunction against the Biden administration’s waters of the US (WOTUS) rule.  The rule, which determines which waters and wetlands receive federal protection under the Clean Water Act, went into effect on April 9^th.  The case Texas v. EPA has resulted in an injunction blocking its implementation in Texas and Idaho. US District Court Judge Jeffrey Vincent Brown wrote that Texas and Idaho, are likely to successfully challenge the rule’s imposition of Clean Water Act jurisdiction over all interstate waters regardless of navigability. The EPA and Army Corps’ interpretation of the Clean Water Act to include all interstate waters without “any limiting principle” raises “serious” federalism questions, Brown wrote. The rule is likely to irreparably harm Texas and Idaho for intruding on their sovereignty and imposing unrecoverable compliance costs, he said.

In a subsequent ruling in a case brought by a group of Republican attorneys general, a judge in North Dakota has blocked the rule from being enforced in another 24 states. In addition to Texas and Idaho, the rule is now blocked in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Another case challenging the WOTUS rule is pending review by the Supreme Court. The EPA has responded by stating that it is reviewing the rulings and considering its options.