Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita and attorneys general from 23 other states have filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) revised Waters of the U.S. Rule, or “WOTUS” for short.
The group says the revised WOTUS rule, which took effect in late December 2022, “goes beyond the power Congress delegated in the Clean Water Act, raises serious constitutional concerns, and runs roughshod over the Administrative Procedures Act.”
The attorneys general say they’re fighting to protect farm and ranching operations, mining and energy workers, and infrastructure and housing projects across the entire country that will be harmed if this overreaching and unconstitutional rule takes effect. Indiana and the 23 other states will motion for a preliminary injunction to stop the rule while the EPA’s WOTUS rule is also being challenged by the U.S. Supreme Court in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency (2023).
The Sackett case involves an Idaho couple who were denied the opportunity to build a new home on residential property they owned because the EPA argued that their property contained wetlands subject to EPA regulation under the Clean Water Act. The case has been in litigation since 2008 and was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in Oct. 2022. A decision is expected before the end of the court’s term in late June or early July.
In addition to Indiana, attorneys general in the following states are included among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit: Ohio, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
The chief defendants in the lawsuit are the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“The administration’s water rule limits the use of land and violates the law and U.S. Constitution. The EPA greatly overstepped its authority by trying to claim jurisdiction over land and water not connected to any navigable water,” said Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen.
Click HERE to read the FULL lawsuit.
