Judge David Norton in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina made the ruling, supporting the claims of several environmental groups represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center that the EPA did not follow the Administrative Procedures Act in finalizing its rule to delay the 2015 WOTUS for two years – meaning the agency did not allow sufficient time for public comment and did not solicit comments on the merits of WOTUS or the previous water conservation legislation before finalizing the delay.
The EPA formally issued a two-year delay on WOTUS, Jan. 31, to allow more time for a complete rewrite of the rule. Some states have already taken measures to stay out of the reach of WOTUS. A federal court in North Dakota issued a preliminary injunction against implementation of the rule, protecting 13 states in August 2015. A Georgia federal court did the same for 11 more states in June.
As of Aug. 16, WOTUS is in effect in Iowa, Illinois, California, Washington, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Mississippi, Minnesota, Michigan, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Louisiana, Hawaii, Delaware and Connecticut.
Several agriculture industry groups, including the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA), National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and the American Farm Bureau, are filing appeals against the ruling.
“The South Carolina court has effectively brought WOTUS back from the dead in 26 states, creating a zombie version of the 2015 rule that threatens the rights of farmers and ranchers across the country,” NCBA Chief Environmental Counsel Scott Yager said in a statement.
“[The] court ruling is a tremendous blow for ranchers and landowners who hoped the ill-conceived 2015 WOTUS rule had finally gone by the wayside. Cattle raisers in Texas, Oklahoma and 24 other states are again threatened by an Obama-era land grab that has the potential to regulate them out of business,” TSCRA President Robert McKnight said in a statement. “In the three years since the rule change was proposed, ranchers and private property rights’ advocates nationwide have fought to maintain their rights in the face of this blatant federal overreach. We will continue the fight to protect the men and women who provide our country with a safe and abundant food supply and look forward to working with the current administration to finalize the repeal of the 2015 WOTUS rule.” 
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Carrie Veselka
- Associate Editor
- Progressive Cattleman
- Email Carrie Veselka
