The hits just keep coming for the EPA and President Obama, this time it’s the major court decision last night that sided with Colorado and a dozen other states to block the Waters of the U.S. Rule from going into effect today.
U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson of North Dakota said the states have a solid case against the government that has clearly overstepped its authority, so he granted the preliminary injunction and there was much rejoicing.
The EPA’s fatal error was in trying to regulate ditches and streams that meander nowhere near navigable waters that are lorded over by the feds.
“The EPA cannot simply ignore state sovereignty as it continues to reach further into state affairs … EPA likely overstepped its authority in trying to take control over state waters and, in doing so, poses a threat to state sovereignty,” said Attorney General Cynthia Coffman.
If the rule had gone into effect today, private property owners would have been subjected to the new rule that regulated runoff, and even access to ditches and streams running through their property.
Colorado’s Republican delegation in Washington has firmly and unequivocally opposed the regulation, while Democrats pledged their support to the EPA’s latest water grab. U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet is up for reelection so he just wanted to believe in his heart the rule would be great for Colorado.
It isn’t.
We applaud the court’s decision, and believe, as the judge ruled, that the EPA has a weak case that will not survive the judicial process.