WOTUS Found To 'Violate The Law'

[Elderberry]

Water Online by Peter Chawaga 8/27/2019

More than four years since it was first put in place, a group of 10 states has won a legal victory against the U.S. EPA’s 2015 Waters of the United States rule. The rule was put into place as a layer of the Clean Water Act meant to clarify water resource management under the Obama administration, but it has long been contested, with the Trump administration announcing its intent to revise or rescind it in 2017.

Now, a recent court ruling in a lawsuit brought by the states has emboldened that effort.

“A federal judge gave the Trump administration a narrow, symbolic victory on the issue of water jurisdiction, finding that its predecessor’s signature water policy violated the law,” Bloomberg Environment reported. “Judge Lisa Godbey Wood’s Aug. 21 opinion found that the Obama administration’s Waters of the United States rule, also known as WOTUS, was in violation of both the Clean Water Act and the federal law that governs how agencies can make new policies.”

More: https://www.wateronline.com/doc/wotus-found-to-violate-the-law-0001

[PeteS in CA]

"I have a phone and I have a pen." And it took 4 years to strike down this bit of Obama's tyranny, 4 years of oppression and uncertainty for those tyrannized.

[Cyber Liberty]

"I have a phone and I have a pen." And it took 4 years to strike down this bit of Obama's tyranny, 4 years of oppression and uncertainty for those tyrannized.

Obastard's tyrannical EOs (plural) punishing BP and other companies for the oil spill in the Gulf was never fully overturned.  It was at first, but Obastard simply wrote another EO with the same language, telling the Judge to cram it.  Trump's EOs haven't had nearly as much stench as Obastard's.

[Smokin Joe]

Obastard's tyrannical EOs (plural) punishing BP and other companies for the oil spill in the Gulf was never fully overturned.  It was at first, but Obastard simply wrote another EO with the same language, telling the Judge to cram it.  Trump's EOs haven't had nearly as much stench as Obastard's.

Some of those have undone some of the damage done by Obama, as much as it can be. Pipelines have been completed, and in some cases started after a decade of stonewalling by the Feds, the courts, and the same environmental organizations that protested train transport, trucks, and hydraulic fracturing.

[verga]

BKMK

[PeteS in CA]

An update on this. @verga

Trump Admin To Undo ‘Oppressive’ Obama-Era Water Regulation

The Trump administration is officially rolling back an Obama-era environmental rule that threatened farmers and other landowners with significant fines or jail time if they failed to comply with onerous regulations on waterways.

The Clean Water Rule, more commonly referred to as the “Waters of the US” rule or WOTUS, was finalized by the Obama administration in 2015. The rule attempted to clarify which waters were subject to the regulations of the Clean Water Act, but in many cases ended up confusing land owners even further.

For example, WOTUS is supposed to contain agricultural exemptions for farmers. But the federal government sued John Duarte for $2.8 million for plowing his field without a permit because he resided on seasonal wetlands.
...
The official told the Daily Caller, “Today, the Trump Administration announced its repeal of President Obama’s oppressive WOTUS regulation. For years, this rule has been used by government agencies to punish farmers and private land owners with out-of-control fines and imprisonment for simply working to protect or better their property. This is another promise kept for our farmers and ranchers as President Trump continues to remove crushing regulations from the American people.”

[Smokin Joe]

An update on this. @verga

Trump Admin To Undo ‘Oppressive’ Obama-Era Water Regulation

This is an excellent move. Considering that the Obamites could declare a mud hole in your driveway an 'intermittent wetland' and imprison you for filling it without permits.

+1 for Trump.

[skeeter]

I think this might qualify as a 'conservative' action.

Not something a Manhattan librul think would do, no?

[roamer_1]

This is an excellent move. Considering that the Obamites could declare a mud hole in your driveway an 'intermittent wetland' and imprison you for filling it without permits.

+1 for Trump.

Yes it is!

[roamer_1]

I think this might qualify as a 'conservative' action.

Not something a Manhattan librul think would do, no?

A busted clock is right twice a day.

Credit where it's due and all, but that don't make him Conservative. Not by a long, long way.

[aligncare]

Some of those have undone some of the damage done by Obama, as much as it can be. Pipelines have been completed, and in some cases started after a decade of stonewalling by the Feds, the courts, and the same environmental organizations that protested train transport, trucks, and hydraulic fracturing.

I like that you used the correct terminology for the new technology, rather than the “fracking” that the leftist media Luddites’ use to scare the uninformed.

It’s time we regular Americans took back the language.

[corbe]

I think this might qualify as a 'conservative' action.

Not something a Manhattan librul think would do, no?

   You have a point there @skeeter even though I'm sure the original obummer EO excluded Golf Course Water hazards. 

[PeteS in CA]

This is an excellent move. Considering that the Obamites could declare a mud hole in your driveway an 'intermittent wetland' and imprison you for filling it without permits.

+1 for Trump.

I remember back during, IIRC, the Clinton Administration the enviros were trying to regulate the after-a-rainstorm puddles on Central Valley farmers' lands because they might have some nearly microscopic seasonal shrimp living and breeding in the puddles.

[skeeter]

A busted clock is right twice a day.

Credit where it's due and all, but that don't make him Conservative. Not by a long, long way.

Yesterday the administration's accidental and entirely inadvertent reshaping of the 9th circuit court along with SCOTUS helped his broken clock score again against those who've gamed the asylum process resulting in an out of control flood of illegal immigrants.

Enough of these happy accidents and maybe we'll start getting somewhere.

[skeeter]

   You have a point there @skeeter even though I'm sure the original obummer EO excluded Golf Course Water hazards. 

Eh. Thats what Mulligans are for.

[roamer_1]

I remember back during, IIRC, the Clinton Administration the enviros were trying to regulate the after-a-rainstorm puddles on Central Valley farmers' lands because they might have some nearly microscopic seasonal shrimp living and breeding in the puddles.

That ain't no lie. Up here it is even worse - You relieve yourself over the porch railing, a little bald guy in a cheap suit with an EPA badge appears and sticks a sign in the ground declaring a federal wetland.

[skeeter]

That ain't no lie. Up here it is even worse - You relieve yourself over the porch railing, a little bald guy in a cheap suit with an EPA badge appears and sticks a sign in the ground declaring a federal wetland.

Thats why you want to hold on to a few ounces, just in case.

[240B]

I seem to remember that the government claimed that even if you live remotely and collect rainwater in a barrel, essentially it belongs to them. Or at least it falls under the government's jurisdiction. Even if you dug your own cow pond, the water in it belonged to them.

As was said, every single drop of water anywhere in the nation no matter how it was obtained, snow runoff or anything else, theoretically belonged to the government. Whether they would allow you to use it or not was at their whimsical discretion.

[roamer_1]

Yesterday the administration's accidental and entirely inadvertent reshaping of the 9th circuit court along with SCOTUS helped his broken clock score again against those who've gamed the asylum process resulting in an out of control flood of illegal immigrants.

Enough of these happy accidents and maybe we'll start getting somewhere.

I doubt it. The minute he leaves the White House, it will all revert, just like Obummer who also ruled by fiat with EOs. Laws passed by Congress is where it really changes, and stays that way.
So while I like this (no lie, I do) ... more candy from the clown leading the parade.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

I like that you used the correct terminology for the new technology, rather than the “fracking” that the leftist media Luddites’ use to scare the uninformed.

It’s time we regular Americans took back the language.

The proper response is 'fracking' is incorrect, and 'fracturing' or 'fraccing' is correct.

A made up spelling by the press. 

I might add it is not a 'new' process as it has been around many decades, just being more visible lately.

Gentlemen Joe is an old time oil industry professional and knows what he says.

[roamer_1]

Thats why you want to hold on to a few ounces, just in case.

 

That's right.

[roamer_1]

I seem to remember that the government claimed that even if you live remotely and collect rainwater in a barrel, essentially it belongs to them. Or at least it falls under the government's jurisdiction. Even if you dug your own cow pond, the water in it belonged to them.

As was said, every single drop of water anywhere in the nation no matter how it was obtained, snow runoff or anything else, theoretically belonged to the government. Whether they would allow you to use it or not was at their whimsical discretion.

They're trying to override water rights up here, saying that the 'first people' retain an inherent and previous claim... Giving the whole watershed to the Federal Reservations... Put that in your cheerios and try to chew it.

[Smokin Joe]

I like that you used the correct terminology for the new technology, rather than the “fracking” that the leftist media Luddites’ use to scare the uninformed.

It’s time we regular Americans took back the language.

Right. For those who recall Battlestar Galactica, "fracking" was an expletive.

[Smokin Joe]

I remember back during, IIRC, the Clinton Administration the enviros were trying to regulate the after-a-rainstorm puddles on Central Valley farmers' lands because they might have some nearly microscopic seasonal shrimp living and breeding in the puddles.

Yep. I recall much the same.

[Smokin Joe]

That ain't no lie. Up here it is even worse - You relieve yourself over the porch railing, a little bald guy in a cheap suit with an EPA badge appears and sticks a sign in the ground declaring a federal wetland.

One of the advantages of sandy soil...