The district court judge in North Dakota who last week issued the preliminary injunction against the EPA’s Clean Water Rule is going to decide whether his order applies to all 50 states, or just the 13 involved in the lawsuit.
Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson indicates that ruling could come yet this week.
“The district court judge in North Dakota has asked that both sides submit briefs by Tuesday and the judge will at that time make a determination of whether or not he believes his court order has the authority across the country, or just the 13 states before that court,” Peterson says.
Nebraska is included in the 13-state injunction, but Peterson is hopeful the judge will rule that it applies to all 50 states.
“We think there’s support for him to do that, because one of the issues is ‘uniformity’. But I can’t predict how the judge will rule on that,” he says. “If he does rule that it applies across the country, I’m not sure what the ramifications will be among those other district court judges who chose not to recognize the preliminary injunction.”
Peterson says the legal battle will likely move to a federal judicial panel at an Oct. 1 meeting in New York. That panel will decide whether to consolidate all of the lawsuits against the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers. Peterson says they may also decide at that time if the preliminary injunction will be lifted or remain in place.
Source: www.brownfieldagnews.com