Federal District Court Rejects EPA Wetlands Enforcement Suit In Texas

摘要

A federal district court in Texas has scrapped an EPA Clean Water Act (CWA) enforcement case that claimed wetlands were unlawfully filled without a federal dredge-and-fill permit, saying the waters were not covered by the law because they did not have a continuous surface connection or a significant nexus to downstream waters. The Aug. 30 decision U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas Judge Lynn Hughes is based on 2008 Bush EPA guidance for determining CWA jurisdiction. The Obama administration subsequently replaced that guide with its own rule to define the scope of the law, which it implemented Aug. 28. However, the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota's Southeastern Division recently blocked that rule in 13 states. See page 2 for details.