Ranchers in New Mexico, California and Washington sue feds over water rule

Ranchers in New Mexico, California and Washington state are challenging a new Obama administration rule giving federal agencies authority to protect some streams and wetlands. The Sacramento, California-based Pacific Legal Foundation announced this week it has filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Minnesota on behalf of the ranchers over a recent expansion of the Clean Water Act. The rule is a response to calls from the U.S. Supreme Court and Congress for the Environmental Protection Agency to clarify which smaller waterways are protected under the law. But the foundation argues the rule is unconstitutional because it sets no limit on the Clean Water Act's reach. EPA spokeswoman Monica Lee declined to comment on the lawsuit. In June, 13 states led by North Dakota filed a lawsuit over the same rule change.  AP

A press release from the PLF has the following:

Specifically, the lawsuit seeks invalidation of the new regulatory rule defining the “waters of the

United States” that are subject to CWA jurisdiction. Issued by the Environmental Protection Agency

and the Army Corps of Engineers, the rule is illegal — and unconstitutional — because it sets no limit on the CWA’s reach, while explicitly expanding it to waters that the Supreme Court has already ruled to be off-limits to federal control.  Judicial precedent and statutory language limit the CWA to “navigable” waters such as rivers, lakes, oceans, and adjacent waters directly connected to them. In violation of this rule, the administration’s new definition of “waters of the United States” is open-ended; for instance, it includes all “tributaries,” no matter how small or remote; “neighboring” water bodies without any connection to a navigable water; and even isolated waters that the Supreme Court has held to be beyond CWA coverage.