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Federal Court Blocks Unlawful WOTUS Rule

BATON ROUGE, LA – In a major victory for landowners in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas – a federal court is preventing the enforcement of a burdensome and expensive government regulation.

This week, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas sided with Attorney General Jeff Landry and his counterparts in Louisiana’s neighboring states by granting an injunction blocking the 2015 Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rule.

“The Obama WOTUS Rule not only gave authority over dry channels, roadside ditches, and isolated streams over to the federal government; but it also subjected Louisiana families to expensive regulatory control and oversight, as well as criminal and civil penalties,” explained General Landry. “So this week’s court decision is a great victory for Louisiana’s farmers, landowners, job creators, and taxpayers.”

The latest development comes a month after General Landry and his colleagues filed a motion asking the court to expedite their request for an injunction, a move necessary after a district court in South Carolina overturned President Donald Trump’s effort to delay the WOTUS rule so the Environmental Protection Agency could prepare a replacement rule. There have been numerous other legal actions taken by General Landry to challenge the Obama-era regulation, including a 22-state initiative to back the EPA’s notice to repeal the rule.

“All along, the Obama WOTUS Rule has been an unnecessarily harmful power grab by the federal government,” added General Landry. “As an opponent of federal overreach, I applaud the court for this decision to protect the sovereignty of states and the liberty of landowners.”

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