In May 2015, the Obama rogue Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) along with the Obama U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) released a finalized rule clarifying what “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) means vis a vis what can be regulated under the federal Clean Water Act (see EPA Power Grab: Redefines Waters of the U.S. to Include Everything). Essentially the rule change redefined everything down to mud puddles (no, we’re not exaggerating) as being subject to the Clean Water Act. It was yet another attempt to bring oil and gas regulation under the purview of the federal government, a violation of the U.S. Constitution. We won’t recount the history of lawsuits and counter lawsuits that have ensued. We’ll only tell you that in January the U.S. Supreme Court entered the fray by determining which courts can hear lawsuits regarding WOTUS (see U.S. Supreme Court Changes Jurisdiction for WOTUS Challenges). At the end of January, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt issued an order to suspend/delay the Obama version of WOTUS until a new version is ready, in two years (see EPA Director Scott Pruitt Suspends Obama WOTUS Rule). Pruitt’s action has (so far) held, much to the consternation of radical environmentalists. Pruitt has just architected another masterstroke, issuing a “Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” for WOTUS. The notice does two things: It states unequivocally that the EPA and Army Corps want to completely overturn the 2015 Obama WOTUS rule; and it inoculates the process of overturning WOTUS so that future lawsuits can’t bring it back from the dead…
