CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is leading a 24-state coalition to support farmers and landowners by urging the Biden administration to reject its proposed replacement of the Trump-era Waters of the United States (“WOTUS”) rule.
In a comments letter filed February 7, the coalition says the Biden administration’s proposal would exchange the clarity provided by the Trump-era rule for confusion about which waters are subject to federal regulation.
“The proposed rule gives renewed uncertainty to farmers, landowners and other job creators,” Morrisey said. “Its adoption will provide an unpredictable definition that leaves no one certain when and if they are subject to the federal Clean Water Act.
Morrisey
"Such lack of clarity will depress economic growth as job creators and developers can’t invest with certainty.”
In the letter, the coalition says the proposed rule simply will reinstate flaws inherent to regulations that predated the Trump-era rule. The rule also shows disrespect for the primary responsibility and right of states to regulate their own water resources.
Morrisey previously led lawsuits challenging an earlier version of the rule promulgated by the Obama administration. Morrisey won a stay that blocked enforcement of the Obama-era rule in October 2015, a victory that provided time for the Trump administration to reconsider the rule and ensure it never went into effect.
If implemented, the proposed WOTUS rule would take jurisdiction over natural resources from states and assert federal authority over almost any body of water including roadside ditches, short-lived streams, and many other areas where water may only flow once every 100 years.
West Virginia signed the letter with attorneys general from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming.