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U.S. Appeals Court Blocks EPA Water Rule Nationwide

DOW JONES & COMPANY, INC. 10:21 AM ET 10/9/2015


WASHINGTON--A federal appeals court on Friday issued a nationwide stay blocking a new Environmental Protection Agency regulation that seeks to expand the amount of water and wetlands under federal protection.

The Cincinnati-based U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in a split ruling, said it was prudent to block the regulation while litigation continued over whether the Obama administration's effort was legal.

"A stay temporarily silences the whirlwind of confusion that springs from uncertainty about the requirements of the new rule and whether they will survive legal testing," the court said.

The court's order was a preliminary boost for a group of 18 states that challenged the EPA regulation, which seeks to add smaller bodies of water under federal water rules.

U.S. trial judges previously have reached conflicting conclusions on whether the EPA's efforts should be put on hold.

One federal judge in August blocked the rule in 13 states that had challenged it in a federal court in North Dakota, saying those states were likely to succeed in their lawsuit against the regulation.

In coordination with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the EPA in May issued the rule, which is estimated to put about 3% more waterways throughout the U.S. under new federal jurisdiction. That would require a federal permit to pollute those waters and could restrict access altogether. Major waterways, like most rivers and lakes, are already under protection of the Clean Water Act and aren't affected by the rule.

Critics, including lawmakers and business and farming groups, say the rule amounts to a federal power grab of state rights.

The EPA has said the rule is necessary to clarify which waters should fall under the protection of the federal Clean Water Act of 1972 after two Supreme Court rulings, in 2001 and 2006, called into question whether and to what extent 60% of U.S. waterways, especially streams and wetlands, should fall under federal jurisdiction.

Companies apply for permits under the Clean Water Act for a host of industrial activities, such as building roads, bridges and discharging of waste material like sewage. The Corps of Engineers, which issues Clean Water Act permits along with the EPA, says it approves tens of thousands of such permits a year. EPA officials say farming activity wouldn't need a permit based on an existing exemption.

Write to Brent Kendall at [e-mail] and Amy Harder at [e-mail]

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
10-09-151021ET
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