Georgia Judge Sinks Obama-Era WOTUS Rule
From NAHB Now
In an important win for NAHB and the housing community, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia on Aug. 21 filed a carefully worded 85-page decision that dismantles the Obama-era 2015 waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule. This is the first court to find that the substance of the 2015 rule violates the Clean Water Act (CWA).
NAHB, with our coalition, intervened in this case in 2018 to support the 11 states that initially filed suit in Georgia.
The court decision remands the 2015 WOTUS rule back to the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to fix it. However, the court did not vacate the rule.
As a result, the Obama-era WOTUS rule remains in effect in 22 states and the District of Columbia, and the previous regulations issued in 1986 are in effect in the remaining 28 states.
Click Here for more form NAHB, including a breakdown of the findings that the presiding judge in the U.S. District Court for the Sothern District of Georgia stated in support of the decision.