Supreme Court agrees to hear WOTUS rule petition

By |  January 23, 2017

PQ0315_water1RThe U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) coalition’s petition regarding the proper venue for the case against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule.

“This is not a hearing on the merits of the rule, but whether the case should be heard first in the district court or the appeals court,” says Emily Coyner, NSSGA director of environmental services.

NSSGA prefers the litigation against the rule be heard in the district courts, where there is “more opportunity to elaborate on the harmful effects of the rule.”

According to NSSGA, the WOTUS rule would increase the jurisdiction of the EPA and would cost the aggregate industry millions of dollars to comply with new requirements.

In addition, the Obama administration filed its parting defense of the WOTUS rule with a 250-page brief filed in the 6th U.S. Court of Appeals. Any new rule from the Trump administration would need to address the points in that brief to be legally protected. The Trump administration is expected to ask for a hold on litigation against the rule so that it can be reworked, NSSGA says.

“NSSGA looks forward to working with the Trump administration and Congress to put a stop to the WOTUS rule,” Coyner says. “Whether it is on the Hill or through our actions in the courts, NSSGA is doing everything possible to work with the incoming administration to not only stop the WOTUS rule, but ensure that the EPA considers industry concerns in other rulemakings.”

The hearing is expected to take place in April with a decision in June, NSSGA reports.

Allison Kral

About the Author:

Allison Kral is the former senior digital media manager for North Coast Media (NCM). She completed her undergraduate degree at Ohio University where she received a Bachelor of Science in magazine journalism from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. She works across a number of digital platforms, which include creating e-newsletters, writing articles and posting across social media sites. She also creates content for NCM's Portable Plants magazine, GPS World magazine and Geospatial Solutions. Her understanding of the ever-changing digital media world allows her to quickly grasp what a target audience desires and create content that is appealing and relevant for any client across any platform.

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