Posted
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers announced that the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota issued a preliminary injunction today against the Biden Administration’s implementation and enforcement of the Waters of the United States rule. The WOTUS rule, which was recently promulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, significantly expands the geographic reach of the EPA’s authority under the Clean Water Act by redefining the term “waters of the United States.”
Attorney General Hilgers said: “Today’s victory honors the principle that Washington bureaucrats cannot exceed the limits set by Congress on their regulatory authority. We will continue to take every step to protect Nebraska farmers and ranchers from the Biden Administration’s overreach.”
Attorney General Hilgers recently addressed the importance of this litigation in his March column, which is available here.
In February, Attorney General Hilgers joined a coalition of 24 states in challenging the WOTUS rule in federal court. Nebraska’s co-plaintiffs are West Virginia, Georgia, Iowa, North Dakota, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming. The district court made its preliminary injunction effective in each of the plaintiffs’ states.
A copy of today’s order is available here.
