E&E NEWS: CLEAN WATER RULE: Judge blocks WOTUS in 11 states
A federal judge in Georgia on Friday granted 11 states’ request for an order blocking implementation of the Obama administration’s controversial Clean Water Rule.
Judge Lisa Godbey Wood of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia agreed to halt the rule from taking effect in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Kentucky.
Wood wrote that the rule is likely unlawful and that the states would suffer irreparable harm absent an injunction.
“Once the rule takes effect, the states will lose their sovereignty over certain intrastate waters that will become subject to the scope of the Clean Water Act,” Wood wrote. “Loss of sovereignty is an irreparable harm.”
Complying with the rule would also likely cause states to lose money that can’t be recouped, Wood added.
The rule is now halted in a total of 24 states. A North Dakota judge’s 2015 injunction barring implementation of the rule in 13 states is still in place.
