By Jim Wedeking, counsel with Sidley Austin LLP in the firm’s Washington, DC office. Jim is also the WLF Legal Pulse‘s Featured Expert Contributor on Environmental Law and Policy.

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INTRODUCTION

In the last week of August, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, in Pascua Yaqui Tribe v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, opted to shake things up a little bit. Instead of issuing a relatively routine order granting the federal government’s request to voluntarily remand the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (“NWPR”) for reconsideration, it decided to vacate the NWPR.

Vacating a rule is nothing new; however, vacating a rule on the merits before the parties finished summary judgment briefing, and leaving the country guessing as to whether or not the order has nationwide effect, is a bit unorthodox. The court will now consider whether to reinstate the 2015 Clean Water Rule—which has already been enjoined and remanded in 28 states. The decision raises serious issues, not just about the Clean Water Act, but about administrative law. Every time the Executive Branch changes parties, there is a procession of rulemaking reversals and challenges where agencies are forced to defend their predecessor administration’s rules. The Arizona court’s ruling has now introduced the potential for additional gamesmanship in legal proceedings that are already awkward and create regulatory uncertainty.

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