EPA is reversing its past opposition to new court injunctions that would block enforcement of the Obama-era Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction rule, agreeing with GOP-led states and industry that a recent ruling scrapping its delay of the 2015 policy means prior arguments the agency made against such injunctions are now moot. In an Aug. 22 filing with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, the Department of Justice (DOJ) on behalf of EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers says states and industry suing to block implementation of the Obama-era policy face an "imminent harm" justifying an injunction, after a South Carolina district court ruled to scrap an EPA rule delaying the 2015 jurisdiction standard from taking effect. Relevant documents are available on InsideEPA.com. (Doc. ID: 214589) "Here, absent a stay or reversal of the South Carolina decision, the Agencies now withdraw their argument that there is not any immediacy associated with the Plaintiffs' allegation" that the policy, known as the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule "causes them irreparable harm," DOJ argues in State of Texas, et ah, v. EPA, et al.
展开▼
