States, Industry Ask Judge To Reconsider CWA Rule Remand Decision

摘要

Seeking to avoid a regulatory patchwork, three southern states and more than a dozen national industry groups are asking a federal district court judge to reconsider his May ruling that remanded to EPA and the Army Corps of Engi-neers the 2015 Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction rule. In recent motions, they argue the judge should have vacated the rule and addressed the merits of their challenges. "Although the Court correctly determined that the rule is procedurally defective, it should have reached the States' substantive challenges and set the rule aside, vacating it rather than remanding without vacatur. The States urge the Court to reconsider the scope of its ruling and the proper remedy," Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi say in a My 25 motion. A coalition of industry groups makes a similar request in its July 25 motion. "The Priváte Party Plaintiffs respect-fully submit that the Court misapplied the legal standard to determine whether a rule should be vacated when the matter is remanded to an agency and that the Court should revise its order to vacate the Final Rule. In the alternative, the Court should address the substantive challenges to the Final Rule." The industry groups say vacatur is necessary to avoid continuance of the current "patchwork" of CWA jurisdiction standards where some district court judges have stayed implementation of the Obama-era rule in 27 states but other judges have allowed the 2015 rule to remain in effect while weighing the merits of challenges to the rule.