States, NRDC, And NWF Sue EPA And Corps On Applicability Date Final Rule

Seyfarth Synopsis: Continuing the fight over the Obama-era Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rule, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., the National Wildlife Federation, and a host of states, including New York and California have brought lawsuits against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) in response to their final rule to delay the applicability date for the WOTUS Rule. States of New York et al. v. USEPA and Corps (State Litigation), No. 18-cv-1030 (S.D. NY February 6, 2018), and NRDC v USEPA and Corps (Association Litigation), No 18-cv-1048 (S.D. NY February 6, 2018).

As we noted in previous blogs, the WOTUS rulemaking has been fraught with controversy and has generated well over 1-million public comments. In the most recent chapter of this ongoing saga, the Agencies adopted an applicability rule to extend the applicability date of the 2015 WOTUS Rule to February 6, 2020. USEPA claimed that t