Second Ruling Scrapping CWA Rule Delay Solidifies Regulatory Patchwork

摘要

A second federal district judge has ruled that EPA's delay of the Obama-era Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction rule was unlawful and scraps the Trump administration's order blocking the rule's enforcement nationwide, solidifying a regulatory patchwork on the CWA's reach as various court decisions have now revived the rule in 22 states. The second ruling, dated Nov. 26 and written by Judge John C. Coughenour of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Puget Soundkeeper Alliance and Sierra Club v. Wheeler, et al., agrees with environmentalists that EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) when they delayed implementation of the 2015 CWA rule without taking comment on the merits of the Obama-era policy. The ruling is available on InsideEPA.com. (Doc. ID: 217146)