Several states have filed suit against the U.S. EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in response to a two year suspension of the Clean Water Rule. Spearheaded by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, suits also have been filed by attorney generals from California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and both Washington state and D.C.
The attorney generals of concerned states argue that the EPA and USACE did not consider scientific evidence developed in support of the rule, as reported by Bloomberg Politics.
“The Trump Administration’s suspension of the Clean Water Rule is clearly illegal, threatening New York’s decades-long efforts to ensure our residents have access to safe, healthy water,” said Schneiderman after filing suit.
This is not the first time the hotly contested rule, also known as the Water of the United States (WOTUS) rule, has been under fire. Under the Obama Administration, attorney generals from Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana filed suit to stop the rule from going into action and argued that the rule falsely applied to lands that are not traditionally navigable waters.
