Judge refuses to block Clean Water Act rule nationwide

From Agri-Pulse

A federal judge in North Dakota declined to block implementation of the Obama administration’s Clean Water Act rule nationwide, leaving it in force in all but 13 states.

U.S. District Judge Ralph R. Erickson last week granted a request by the 13 states to stop the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers from enforcing the rule. But on Friday he turned down their request to extend the ruling nationwide, citing “competing sovereign interests and competing judicial rulings.”

The rule, which took effect Aug. 28, re-defines the ditches, wetlands and streams fall under jurisdiction of the anti-pollution law as “waters of the United States” (WOTUS). Read the rest of the story here.