Waters of the United States rule

The "Waters of the United States" rule (WOTUS) grants the EPA jurisdiction of over even the smallest bodies of water, whether anyone is trying to get clean drinking water from it or not. It's a vast expansion of jurisdiction over the Clean Water Rule, and farmers and industry are at odds with environmentalists over it.

Paul Ryan complained that:

The rule would give Washington, DC bureaucrats unprecedented powers to regulate virtually any place that water flows or accumulates anywhere in the United States. It would allow regulation of a host of land features, including minor wetlands and typically dry streambeds that only occasionally carry storm water.^[1] - May 12, 2015

President Trump observed:

The Clean Water Act says that the EPA can regulate 'navigable waters,' meaning waters that truly affect interstate commerce. But a few years ago, the EPA decided that 'navigable waters' can mean nearly every puddle or every ditch on a farmer’s land, or anyplace else that they decide ..."^[2]

President Joe Biden’s final WOTUS rule to replace Trump’s rule (discussed below) was issued on January 18, 2023, to be effective 60 days later. According to one commentator:

On January 18, the same day it was issued, Texas and Idaho filed suit against this rule in federal court in Galveston (S.D. Tex.)^[4][5]

On Sunday, March 19, 2023, Trump-appointed Judge Jeffrey V. Brown granted Texas and Idaho a preliminary injunction against President Biden's WOTUS rule:^{[6] [7]}

On February 16, a separate lawsuit by 24 other Republican states (led by WV) was filed in North Dakota, where it was assigned to a Bush-appointed judge.^{[8] [9]}

On March 20, a Notice of Supplemental Authority advised the court that a different judge had just issued a ruling against the WOTUS rule.

On February 22, a third lawsuit against the rule was filed in Kentucky by KY AG Daniel Cameron,^{[10] [11]} and a companion suit was filed by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.^[12][13][14]

Both suits were assigned to the same Bush-appointed judge, who allowed environmental groups to intervene to defend the WOTUS rule.^[15]

A related case was argued in the U.S. Supreme Court, where a decision could come at any time in sprint 2023.^{[16] [17]}

On June 27, 2017, the Trump Administration proposed a rule would to recodify the identical regulatory text that was in place prior to the 2015 Clean Water Rule, and which is currently in place as a result of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit's ruling to stay the 2015 rule. This rescission will not change the current practice, which was in effect prior to the 2015 Clean Water Rule, with respect to defining the waters of the United States.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced this rescission of the Obama Administration's regulation.

• Clean Water Rule

• What does 'waters of the U.S.' mean?