From Downey Brand, this breaking news legal alert:
On Friday October 9, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a nationwide stay of the new Clean Water Rule. This order restores the definition of Waters of the United States to what it was prior to the August 28 effective date of the Rule. In a 2-1 decision in State of Ohio, et al. v. U.S. Army Corps of Eng’rs. et al., No. 15-3751, the Sixth Circuit, without ruling on whether it had jurisdiction to hear the case, found that petitioners, a group of eighteen states, had demonstrated a substantial possibility of success in demonstrating that the Rule is an inappropriate expansion of federal agency authority.
The Court, which is hearing four consolidated actions filed in Federal Appeals courts, reasoned that restoring the status quo, as it existed before the August 28 effective date of the Rule, was appropriate given the “whirlwind of confusion” caused by the Rule and disparate orders issued by several District Courts including a preliminary injunction issued by the District of North Dakota on August 27 enjoining the rule in 13 states.
Read more at Downey Brand here: EPA’s Water Rule Blocked Nationwide
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