Federal court deals decisive blow to Obama water rule
A federal court dealt a decisive blow against the Obama administration's Waters of the U.S. rule this week, bolstering the Trump administration's deregulation agenda.
The U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Texas issued the strongly worded ruling late Tuesday, stating that the Environmental Protection Agency broke the law in issuing the landmark regulation governing waterways.
"The court finds that the final rule violated the notice-and-comment requirements of the [Administrative Procedure Act] and therefore grants summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs on this ground," the court ruled, siding with the American Farm Bureau Federation in opposing the rule.
The court said that EPA did not allow for appropriate notice for public comment on changes it made to the final regulations. Tuesday's ruling orders the EPA to open a new public comment period on reports and analyses used in...
