Environmentalists Say CWA Jurisdiction Rule Delay Fails 9th Circuit Tests

摘要

Environmentalists are urging a federal district court in Washington state to scrap EPA's rule blocking enforcement of the Obama-era Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction policy through 2020, saying EPA's justification for the delay falls short of what an appellate court requires for agencies to withdraw or defer implementing a prior administration's rules.The plaintiffs' July 27 summary judgment motion in Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, et al, v. Wheeler, et al, asks the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington to bring the 2015 CWA jurisdiction rule - tenned the Clean Water Rule by the Obama administration - back into force, despite EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers' arguments that the delay is needed to ensure "regulatory certainty." The motion is available on InsideEPA.com. (Doc. ID: 213881)"The Agencies simply have not explained why it would increase uncertainty to allow Corps districts to begin enforcing the Clean Water Rule again in the districts where it is not enjoined. The fully promulgated 2015 Rule is unburdened by the numerous uncertainties the Agencies identified in the pre-2015 regime. It is therefore irrational to suggest that re-imposing that regime will avoid 'inconsistencies, uncertainty, and confusion,'" the environmentalists' brief says.