Nine AGs Filed Comments Objecting to EPA’s Proposed Repeal of 2015 Waters of the United States Rule

SEPTEMBER 27, 2017

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman led a coalition of nine attorneys general in filing comments challenging “the legality of a Trump Administration proposal to void the ‘Clean Water Rule’ that defines ‘waters of the United States’ under federal law. In comments addressed to the [Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)] and US Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE), the coalition charges that the proposed repeal of the Clean Water Rule — a rule designed to ensure the nation’s lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands receive proper protection under the federal Clean Water Act — is ‘arbitrary and capricious and not in accordance with law.’ The coalition also charges that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s involvement in the effort, after suing to negate the Clean Water Rule as Oklahoma Attorney General, is ‘illegal’ and would render any repeal invalid.”