St. Paul, MINN—On Thursday, August 27, 2015, Judge Ralph Erickson of the District Court for the District of North Dakota issued a preliminary injunction, blocking the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) controversial Waters of the United States Rule (WOTUS) hours before it was due to take effect on Friday. The Obama Administration says it will still enforce the regulations as planned in all but the 13 states who were part of that lawsuit requesting that injunction.
Representative Dan Fabian (R-Roseau) and eleven other state legislators sent a letter to Attorney General Lori Swanson on July 21, 2015, asking her to add Minnesota to a lawsuit filed against the EPA. At that time, more than half of the states had filed a lawsuit against the EPA in an attempt to stop the implementation of WOTUS. To date, Attorney General Swanson has not acted on that request.
Rep. Fabian released the following statement following Judge Erickson's ruling:
"While I am pleased the federal court has placed an injunction against an overreaching and harmful rule placed on states by the Obama Administration, Minnesota is at a great disadvantage by not being part of a coalition of states suing the EPA over WOTUS. Not only does this rule take away control from locally elected officials, but it adds layers of burdensome regulations on citizens, farmers and small businesses. The EPA and Army Corps of Engineers plan to start enforcing this new rule today in Minnesota, so I would like to once again urge the governor and attorney general to take action on behalf of our state and work to put a stop to this onerous rule. Minnesotans take great pride in our clean water, and I have great confidence in our ability as a state to take care of our waters."
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