"Property rights advocates today filed one of the first lawsuits challenging the Trump administration's Clean Water Act rule, arguing that the regulation does not go far enough in limiting the law's reach.

EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers last week finalized the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, opening the door for what is expected to be dozens of lawsuits. Most challenges are expected to come from environmental groups and blue states arguing that the rule improperly guts much of the law.

The rule defines what wetlands and streams require permitting under the Clean Water Act. The Trump rule significantly limits that scope from an Obama-era definition of waters of the U.S., or WOTUS, removing protections for a majority of the country's wetlands and 18% of its streams.

But today's filing from the New Mexico Cattle Growers' Association, represented by the conservative Sacramento, Calif.-based Pacific Legal Foundation, says the rule still extends too broadly to the country's waterways."

Jeremy P. Jacobs reports for Greenwire April 27, 2020. [2]