Wyoming Joins Lawsuit Over Feds New Water Rule

Attorneys general and industries plan to sue the federal government over a new water protection rule that went into effect last month.

They want the court to vacate the new rule and block the EPA from enforcing it, leaving a Trump-era rule in place.

"The rule emphasizes that states, territories, and Tribes may only consider the adverse water quality-impacts from the activity," the EPA said in September. "To limit delays, the rule also provides a clear approach to defining the required contents in a request for certification."

The plaintiffs, including states and industries, say the rules are "sweeping and unlawful."

“The 2023 Water Quality Certification Rule is arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of the EPA’s discretion, exceeds the statutory authority on which it relies, and is otherwise contrary to law,” the complaint says.

The American Petroleum Institute, Interstate National Gas Association of America, and National Hydropower Association are listed as plaintiffs.

States suing include attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming. (Center Square).

"The Trump administration’s reforms preserved the role of states in protecting their water quality while stopping states acting in bad faith and abusing the process to achieve unrelated policy goals and stopping or delaying nationally important projects and critical infrastructure,” Montana Attorney General Knudsen said in a statement.

“In its new rule, Biden’s EPA has once again turned the Clean Water Act on its head, ignoring congressional intent and exceeding its authority."