Montana Attorney General Tim Fox, and Attorneys General from 12 other states signed onto a lawsuit against the EPA and the Army corps of Engineers, today. Fox says that the two bureaucracies are attempting to expand federal power through the Clean Water Act by redefining “navigable waters” to a new definition that would include everything from “prairie potholes to dry irrigation ditches.”

"Every liberty loving property owner should be concerned about this power grant by the EPA," Fox said. "It literally will affect everybody in the country in one way either directly or indirectly. This particular rule is probably generated for more opposition and criticism than any other rule that I've seen."

Fox says the new Waters of the U.S. Rule infringes on the Montana State Constitution, damages federalism, and even goes against the Clean Water Act.

"Under the clean water act, which is how  these rules or under which these rules were propagated and statutes," Fox said. "Those statues specifically state that the EPA is to deffer to the states on these issues and to not only respect their sovereignty but their right to administer their laws over water."

Fox is hopeful the Supreme Court’s Michigan v. EPA ruling will support Montana’s Waters of the U.S. Lawsuit, he believes that the EPA has failed to consider the costs associated with expanding the definition of navigable waters, just as it failed to consider the costs of its coal regulations.

 

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