Southwest Industries' CWA Suit Adds To Federal District Court Confusion

摘要

A coalition of Southwest mining and other industry groups have filed suit in federal district court over EPA's rule to define the scope of the Clean Water Act (CWA), adding to more than a dozen individual legal challenges to the policy pending in district courts across the United States and exacerbating major confusion over the lawsuits. Groups seeking to either scrap the rule or have a court order to force EPA to tighten it continue to file suits in a number of district courts. In one of those cases, U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota, Southeastern Division Chief District Judge Ralph Erickson temporarily blocking the rule's implementation ahead of its deadline to take effect Aug. 28, but EPA says the order only applies in the 13 states that sought the injunction.