POWER MAGAZINE: SCOTUS Sends Controversial WOTUS Rule into More Legal Limbo
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously reversed and remanded a rule the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers rolled out in 2015 that asserts federal authority over small bodies of water with a broader definition of the statutory term, “waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS). In a ruling for National Association of Manufacturers v. Department of Defense et al., written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor and issued on January 22, the court reversed judgment by the Sixth Circuit and remanded the case with instructions to dismiss petitions for review of the rule for lack of jurisdiction. The decision effectively lifts a stay placed on the rule by the federal court. However, the court also held that because the definition of the statutory term fell outside of Section 1369(b)(1) of the Clean Water Act, challenges to the rule must be filed in federal district courts—not in federal courts of appeal. Industry experts said that while the ruling is unsurprising, it leaves open several questions about the future of the rule, even as the EPA and Army Corps work toward rescinding and recodifying the definition of WOTUS.
