Federal District Judge In North Dakota Blocked the New WOTUS Rule From Going Into Effect

By Ashley Ellixson

Lake surrounded by forest (Photo by Edwin Resmberg).

As many of you may know, the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers’ “Waters of the United States” Rule (WOTUS) was supposed to go into effect today, August 28, 2015. However, a federal district judge in North Dakota, along with 12 other states, have now blocked the rule from going into effect while the ongoing legislation challenging the rule is underway. The judge agreed that the rule should be delayed and stated “the states are likely to succeed on their claim because (1) it appears likely that the EPA has violated its Congressional grant of authority in its promulgation of the Rule at issue and (2) it appears likely the EPA failed to comply with APA requirements when promulgating the Rule.”

It is unclear, as of now, whether the rule will go into effect in the other states who are not parties to the current lawsuit. To read the order and the press release visit:

press release <http://www.ag.nd.gov/NewsReleases/2015/08-27-15.pdf> order<http://www.ag.nd.gov/NewsReleases/2015/PI%20Order.pdf>.

If you would like to read more about the WOTUS rule you can visit the initial blog post on the definition expansion here and the ongoing updates here.

#ArmyCorpsofEngineers #EPA #watersoftheUnitedStates #WOTUSRule