© 2024 | Jefferson Public Radio
Southern Oregon University
1250 Siskiyou Blvd.
Ashland, OR 97520
541.552.6301 | 800.782.6191
a service of Southern Oregon University
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

California Among States Challenging Trump Delay Of "Clean Water Rule"

Ky Plaskon / Capital Public Radio

California is once again suing the Trump Administration, joining New York and eight other states in a case about water. The states filed the lawsuit Tuesday just hours after federal agencies announced a new delay in the federal Clean Water Rule.

The Obama-era rule expands what water bodies must comply with federal standards, including streams that do not flow year-round. Courts have blocked the rule while it has undergone complicated lawsuits about jurisdiction. But the litigation is wrapping up, after a Supreme Court decision last month, and the rule was near taking effect, even while the Trump administration seeks to repeal it.

So, the U.S. EPA and Army Corps of Engineers published notice in the Federal Register of a delay to the rule’s implementation, arguing it should not go into effect only to be rescinded.

California and the other states argue the delay is illegal. Agencies must typically go through a formal, public process to prove the need to undo an already-implemented rule.

California has sued on similar grounds in many of its more than two dozen lawsuits against the Trump administration.

Copyright 2018 Capital Public Radio