GOP States Ask D.C. Circuit To Block Biden EPA's Delay Of SDWA Lead Rule

摘要

A group of five Republican state attorneys general (AGs), led by Arizona, is urging a federal appeals court to temporarily block a Biden EPA rule delaying key deadlines in Trump-era revisions to the lead and copper drinking water rule (LCRR), though they also invite the court to vacate the delay given agency plans to soon decide on a rewrite."The Delay Rule is not just bad policy whose permanent harms will be largely borne by children. It is also profoundly unlawful," the AGs say in their opening brief in Arizona, et al. v. EPA, filed Aug. 24 with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.The AGs ask the court to stay the delay rule but say they "recognize that, given the timetable here, the effect of granting a stay pending review would be tantamount to a summary vacatur of the Delay Rule." Therefore, they say the court "may prefer to consider their arguments formally as such, and respectfully request summary vacatur in the alternative."EPA in June delayed until Dec. 16 the effective date of the LCRR and extended the compliance date for the rule until Oct. 16, 2024, saying the extension is necessary to accommodate a thorough review of the rule and engage with a wide variety of stakeholders.