Eighteen AGs Filed Lawsuit Challenging Narrowed Waters of the United States Rule

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and New York Attorney General Letitia James led a coalition of 18 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit challenging the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Navigable Waters Protection Rule, which eliminated federal protections for more than half of the nation’s wetlands and hundreds of thousands of miles of upland streams by dramatically narrowing the definition of “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act (CWA). In their complaint, the AGs emphasized that the administration’s definition “categorically excludes waters long understood as within the CWA’s protections,” and should be vacated because it “conflicts with the text of the CWA, contradicts the CWA’s objective, and overlooks the Agencies’ prior scientific findings and longstanding policy and practice,” among other significant issues.

• Documents: ComplaintCA Press ReleaseNY Press Release
• Document Type: Complaints Press Releases/Statements
• States: California Connecticut Illinois Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina Oregon Rhode Island Vermont Virginia Washington Washington, D.C. Wisconsin
• Agencies: Department of Defense Environmental Protection Agency U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• Issues: Clean Water Act Cross-Cutting & Administrative Natural Resources Oceans and Water Policy Public Lands & Wildlife Water Waters of the United States Wildlife
• Era: Trump Administration
• Outcome: Loss
• Explanation of Outcome:The court remanded the rule to the agency, which the AGs opposed. Read the order here.
• Action Type: Litigation