Seattle judge reinstates EPA regulation after activist pressure

11-30-2018

SEATTLE, Wash. — A controversial land use regulation has been reinstated by a Washington State judge.

The Capital Press reports Judge John Coughenour on Monday reinstated the Obama Administration’s definition of Waters of the United States, a move opposed by the American Farm Bureau Federation as an unwarranted expansion of the Clean Water Act.

The judge said the Trump Administration committed procedural violations when it set aside the Obama EPA’s definition of the Waters of the United States, effectively changing the so-called “WOTUS rule” without public comment.

Activist group Puget Soundkeeper Alliance brought the lawsuit against the EPA.