Expanded federal involvement in agriculture using expanded definitions of "waters of the United States" to cover tiny streams and even small ponds has led to a majority of US states fighting in court against Washington, DC.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Vincent Brown has granted an injunction against the Biden administration for Idaho and Texas.
It makes little sense to consider any of them WOTUS, since no American ship is traveling on them, nor could they. The White House is instead arguing because small streams can feed into larger rivers they all fall under the new definition.
States and landowners cried foul because the regulations are so vague they are clearly lawsuit bait for environmental allies, with costs even higher than California's Proposition 65 mandate, which has led to cancer warning stickers on white boards and coffee cups, and lawsuits and higher costs - without a single life saved.
Congress has already gotten the message and voted to repeal the controversial effort begun during the Obama years, which continued during the Trump administration. The Biden administration is pushing ahead and said any state not suing his EPA must comply.
Though media accounts show giant rivers, suggesting they will be at risk unless the new regulations are enacted, those are already protected as waters of the US. These are instead minor streams and even private ponds which are now being included by regulatory fiat, no science needed.
This will end up at the Supreme Court, since EPA has blocked a couple from building a lakehouse, claiming that under their regulations the property they already had would suddenly be a protected wetland. And they must get permission from EPA, which would not be granted.
