DTN writer Todd Neeley reported Friday that, “Three states, along with the American Farm Bureau Federation, asked a federal court in Texas on Thursday to vacate the 2015 waters of the United States, or WOTUS, rule in the latest in a long series of court actions.
“In separate motions filed with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in Galveston, the states of Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana and the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) asked the court to throw out the rule for a number of reasons.
“AFBF has been aggressively pursuing legal avenues to kill the 2015 rule with motions filed over the past week in federal courts in both Texas and Georgia.”
Mr. Neeley noted that, “Currently, the rule is in effect in 22 states and on hold in 28 states, as a result of a long legal battle. The EPA continues to draft rules to repeal the 2015 rule and replace it by September 2019.
“The agency had finalized a rule to delay the implementation of the 2015 rule to 2020, but that has since been struck down by another court.
“The AFBF argues the EPA violated the Administrative Procedures Act by not allowing the public to comment on the rule ‘before making substantive changes’ before it was finalized.”
The DTN article added: “The states ask the court to vacate the rule based on a number of constitutional issues.”
