State joints suit challenging WOTUS

Gov. Bill Walker said June 29 that the state will join North Dakota and 10 other states in a challenge to the recently finalized “waters of the United States” rule. WOTUS, adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, attempts to define what waters are covered by the Clean Water Act and hence require a federal permit. In a statement the governor’s office said the new rule has left states with more questions, rather than clarifying the issue.

“This final rule will likely have detrimental impacts on development in Alaska,” Walker said. “In addition to being incredibly expansive, the rule is also unclear. It will only lead to more expensive permitting and legal fights over ‘what is in’ and ‘what is out’ under the federal law,” the governor said.

In their complaint, filed June 29 in the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota Southeastern Division, the states said the rule “unlawfully expands the Agencies’ jurisdiction over state land and water resources beyond the limits established by Congress under the Clean Water Act.”

The complaint asks the court to declare the final rule unlawful and vacate and set it aside in its entirety.

- Petroleum News