In Blow to Minnesota’s Farmers, District Court Revives Obama’s WOTUS Rule

Farmers across Minnesota are now cast into regulatory uncertainty as the U.S. District Court in South Carolina ruled against the Trump administration’s attempt to block the Obama-era Waters of the United States rule from becoming law.  As a result, the rule is operative again in 26 states where district courts haven’t halted the regulation.

The American Farm Bureau was dismayed by the ruling, calling it misguided. The Farm Bureau continued:

“To avoid widespread uncertainty and potential enforcement against ordinary farming activities in these already-uncertain times, we call on the administration to take immediate steps to limit the impact of this dangerous court decision,” said AFBF President Zippy Duvall.”

The WOTUS rule will not be the rule of law in 24 states because these states had filed a lawsuit to prevent WOTUS from becoming the law. These states are:

“Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Kentucky — the 11 states that filed the original lawsuit in Georgia in June 2015. The rule also is on hold in South Dakota, Missouri, Alaska, North Dakota, New Mexico, Idaho, Arizona, Nebraska, Montana, Arkansas, Nevada, Colorado and Wyoming as part of an ongoing similar case in North Dakota.”

Wisconsin will not be subject to WOTUS because Attorney General Brad Schimel (R), joined several other states in fighting the rule whereas soon-to-be former Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson (DFL), did not.

Hopefully Minnesota’s next AG will be more willing to listen to the concerns of farmers when they talk about the negative impacts of federal overreach and regulations.