New Hold on WOTUS

This week, a North Dakota federal judge granted a stay of implementation on the newest set of definitions for the Waters of The United States, or WOTUS. The stay, which blocks changes introduced by the Biden Administration in March, is effective in the 24 states that filed the suit, and joins Texas and Idaho which earned their own stays in March. 

The stay reverts WOTUS enforcement to pre-2015 rules and will also be used by the EPA in the other 26 states that are not part of the legal action. The lawsuit brought against the administration’s changes argued that the new definitions would place an undue burden on the state agencies responsible for enforcement. 

The Environmental Protection Agency, which is charged with protecting water quality under federal law, has struggled to define the waters under its jurisdiction across multiple presidential administrations. The new rules expanded protections to “adjacent wetlands” and “additional waters”, as determined by the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 

Another argument for the stay is the pending WOTUS-related decision in Sackett v Environmental Protection Agency, which is expected from the United States Supreme Court by June, 2023. The ruling is expected to address many of the unresolved legal issues surrounding WOTUS and its implementation on the ground.

For Market to Market, I’m Peter Tubbs.