Industry Groups Sue EPA on Waters Rule

The Associated General Contractors of America, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, and other industry groups have filed a joint lawsuit to block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers’ Waters of the U.S. rule published on January 18.

The legal action, filed in the U.S. District Court’s Southern District of Texas, seeks to have the court declare the new rule unlawful and vacate the measure. The groups assert that the administration released the new rule despite the fact that the Supreme Court is currently weighing the scope of the Clean Water Act as part of the Sackett v. EPA case.

A ruling in that case could render elements of the new rule irrelevant, adding further regulatory confusion for a large section of the economy, according to the groups.

According to the groups, the Clean Water Act gives the federal government the authority to regulate “navigable waters” within the United States, yet the rule seeks to expand the federal government’s authority over an enormous area of dry land and wet areas that lack any physical connection to actual navigable waters.

ARTBA specified roadside ditches as falling under the new rules. It contends that the rule would slow delivery of transportation projects. How roadside ditches are treated by the EPA has long been a concern for the transportation construction industry, according to the group, which notes that they act as an important conduit for draining water from roads under construction—an essential safety practice.

“Just because a piece of land occasionally gets wet doesn’t make it a navigable waterway,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, AGC CEO, in a statement. “Try as it might, the administration cannot redefine the reality of existing law or constitutional limits on executive power.”

“After first promising new infrastructure investments, the President now seems committed to making sure much of that work gets tied up in needless regulatory holdups,” Sandherr said. “Instead of finding new and increasing unlawful ways to obstruct infrastructure improvements, the president should instead implement the environmental streamlining provisions that were included in the bipartisan infrastructure law.”