Arkansas, 12 others file suit to block rule on waterways

Arkansas and a dozen other states are asking a federal judge in North Dakota to block new federal clean-water regulations.

The lawsuit, filed Monday, names the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as defendants, along with their top officials.

Similar suits were also filed Monday in Ohio and Texas.

The final rule, titled "Definition of 'Waters of the United States' Under the Clean Water Act," was published Monday in the Federal Register, the government's daily journal.

It is scheduled to take effect Aug. 28.

It defines "the scope of waters protected under the Clean Water Act" and will "ensure protection for the nation's public health and aquatic resources," the Federal Register says.

The Clean Water Act, approved by Congress in 1972, "made it unlawful for any person to discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters, unless a permit was obtained under its provisions," an EPA summary states.

For decades, the EPA has monitored and regulated the nation's navigable and interstate water, as well as territorial seas, which are tied to national commerce.

The rule would expand the variety of water bodies under the jurisdiction of the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to include some tributaries and wetlands that feed into larger bodies of water already under their jurisdiction.

In the filing, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge and attorneys general in the other states involved in the suit argue the new rule "unlawfully expands the Agencies' jurisdiction over state land and water resources beyond the limits established by Congress under the Clean Water Act."

Supporters say the changes would protect the nation's drinking water and help wildlife. Opponents say any changes would give the federal government too much control over what farmers and land developers do with their property.

"This rule from the EPA and the Corps goes beyond the intent of Congress under the Clean Water Act and will negatively impact Arkansas's agriculture community -- a community that accounts for one in every six jobs across the State," said Rutledge. "I am confident that the courts will once again affirm that local oversight and local control is the best way to protect our waters."

Glen Hooks, director of the Arkansas Sierra Club, favors the new rule.

"One of the most important things our government can do is to protect our drinking water," he said.

He criticized Rutledge for trying to block the regulations. "I think her priority should be with protecting our resources and protecting the health of Arkansans rather than doing the bidding of polluters," he said.

"Opponents of the rule have really put out a lot of misinformation about what this rule really does. They're claiming that it will make every creek or puddle on somebody's farm subject to federal jurisdiction, which is not the case at all."

Rutledge made an appearance before a congressional subcommittee in late March to speak against the rule. The first-term Republican echoed arguments from business and agricultural groups that said the rule would "cripple" farmers by subjecting their lands to federal regulation and penalties.

EPA officials have argued that the new rule is a much-needed clarification and that it is necessary to protect water quality as well as wildlife from runoff and other pollution.

They also point out that the new regulation won't apply to ponds on farmland as well as many types of ditches and gullies. They say it will increase the amount of water subject to the Clean Water Act only by about 3 percent.

In late May, all six members of the state's congressional delegation voiced opposition to the rule.

The Arkansas Farm Bureau collected and submitted at least 2,700 comments from Arkansans.

"All segments of agriculture in the state of Arkansas are squarely behind ditching this rule," Farm Bureau President Randy Veach told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette earlier this year. The EPA "should leave it alone entirely."

Along with North Dakota and Arkansas, the other states involved in the lawsuit are Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, South Dakota and Wyoming.

With the exception of Chris Koster of Missouri, all of the attorneys general involved are Republicans.

The Texas lawsuit filed by its Republican attorney general Monday was joined by Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, a Democrat, and Louisiana Attorney General James "Buddy" Caldwell, a Republican.

"The EPA's new water rule is not about clean water -- it's about power," Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement. "This sweeping new rule is a blatant overstep of federal authority and could have a devastating effect on virtually any property owner, from farmers to ranchers to small businesses. If it moves forward, essentially anybody with a ditch on their property would be at risk of costly and unprecedented new regulations and a complicated web of bureaucracy."

The Ohio lawsuit was joined by Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette. The attorneys general of both state are Republican.

Ohio Attorney General Michael DeWine said the new rule "clearly violates both the language and the spirit of the Clean Water Act, which recognizes the rights of states to serve as trustees of their natural resources. This is yet another example of the Obama administration overreaching its authority and unilaterally attempting to concentrate power in the hands of federal bureaucrats."

Metro on 06/30/2015

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