A dozen states have lined up to challenge the feds new rule declaring that ditches and ponds are officially “Waters of the United States” so the government can do what it does best – regulate the Hell out of our lives and property.
Attorney General Cynthia Coffman today announced that Colorado has joined in the challenge, filing a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota to vacate the rules.
The Western states are arguing that the feds simply do not have the authority to manage these resources – that’s the job of individual states.
“Congress and the courts have repeatedly affirmed the states have primary responsibility for the protection of intrastate waters and land management,” the attorney’s general office said in a statement.
If the rules go into effect, landowners would have to get additional federal permits or face criminal charges and steep fines from the EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
We can only hope that Western states are as successful in knocking down this ridiculous rule, as they were in killing the Interior Department’s redundant and expensive fracking regulations.
Gov. Hickenlooper was on the loosing side of that battle, sending out his flunkies to criticize the attorney general for daring to stand up for the state’s interests.
It will be interesting to see whether Hick bucks this action as well, and sides with feds and their regulated mud puddles.