A North Dakota judge weakened protections of our nation’s clean wetlands, rivers, streams, and drinking water by blocking the Biden administration’s “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule in 24 states.
For decades, polluting industries like mining and Big Ag — and politicians in thrall to them — have fought to limit which waters receive federal protections. The North Dakota federal court’s decision strips away science-based protections that the Biden administration recently adopted in 24 states where Republican attorneys general challenged them. This happened a month after a Texas judge, in a similar but separate ruling, also blocked the updated WOTUS rule in Texas and Idaho. Twenty-six states are now operating with weaker clean water rules than the rest of the country. Thousands of wetlands are at risk of industrial pollution.
Over the years, Earthjustice has fended off many industry efforts to open our precious waterways up to pollution and jeopardize public health. We will continue to fight alongside our partners to ensure that science and the law prevail.
What is “Waters of the United States,” and what does it have to do with the Clean Water Act?
The Clean Water Act establishes the regulations of pollutants into the waters of the United States. “Waters of the United States” is a term in the Clean Water Act that establishes the scope of federal regulation under the Act.
The executive branch defines which U.S. waterways fall under WOTUS and are thus regulated by the Clean Water Act.
The latest skirmish in this decades long fight is over the Biden administration’s newly proposed WOTUS rule, backed by years of scientific evidence.
Last year, the Biden administration expanded and strengthened protections for wetlands, streams, and other waterways through finalizing a new WOTUS rule. These protections are essential because wetlands and streams are ecologically important in their own right, and because they feed into larger bodies of water like rivers and lakes.
Polluting industries like mining companies, Big Ag and fossil fuel developers, have fought clean water rules for decades. In 2021, Earthjustice beat back a Trump administration attack on WOTUS that eliminated protection for thousands of wetlands, headwater streams, and desert washes.
The federal agencies that made the new WOTUS rule, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, reviewed hundreds of scientific articles and worked through thousands of public comments to develop a framework for protecting our nation’s waters from industrial pollution.
Source: earthjustice.org
Photo Credit: pexels-Adam Sondel
Categories: North Dakota, Sustainable Agriculture