Michigan has joined a lawsuit that challenges the Trump Administration in regard to the Clean Water Act and states’ rights. Opposition has been building since April of 2019, but when a final ruling from the Environmental Protection Agency was issued on July 13th of this year, states wasted no time in fighting back.
The Clean Water Act had given states the authority to halt federal projects, but a Trump administration order changed the states’ right to act in their own best interest, according to the Democratic Attorneys General filing the lawsuit. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said, “Decisions about the well-being of Michigan’s residents shouldn’t be made behind closed doors in Washington D.C.”
The multi-state lawsuit says that the order makes it harder to protect waters and wetlands nationwide. The federal projects called into question include hydropower and pipeline construction, along with housing and commercial land development. The regulations that were changed have been in effect for decades and across multiple administrations.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern district of California and asks for the EPA ruling to be declared unlawful.
Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland
