Sep 28, 2018

WOTUS rule delay action subject of Farm Bureau request

The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and a broad coalition of business groups on Sept. 26 asked a federal district court in Georgia to expand its prior order delaying implementation of the flawed 2015 Waters of the U.S. rule in 11 states.

According to an AFBF news release, the coalition asked that the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia extend its previous injunction to block the WOTUS rule in the remaining 22 states that are currently subject to the controversial and unlawful rule.

AFBF’s motion was prompted by another court’s decision in August striking down an Environmental Protection Agency rule that had delayed application of the WOTUS rule nationwide pending the agency’s ongoing reconsideration of the rule.

In addition to the court in Georgia, federal courts in North Dakota and Texas have blocked the WOTUS rule in specific states. These decisions have left only 22 states subject to the 2015 rule. If the Georgia court extends its injunction as requested, the WOTUS rule will be temporarily blocked in all 50 states.

As explained in the motion, one of the many problems with the WOTUS situation is the hodgepodge of states in which the federal rule is applicable. “This is a deeply troubling state of affairs. A rule this fundamental to the [Clean Water Act’s] regulatory scheme should not apply in a patchwork manner.”

Most importantly, the filing highlights the illogic of allowing piecemeal enforcement of an almost certainly doomed regulation. As stated in the motion, “the public has no interest in the enforcement of an illegal rule.”