In 2018 New Mexico's Hector Balderas joined a bipartisan group of mostly western attorneys general that included Republicans Tim Fox of Montana and former South Dakota AG Marty Jackley in a lawsuit against the Trump Organization's Environmental Prostitution Agency. They argued EPA failed to promote a rule that would have forced hard rock mines to meet federal financial bond rules passed during the Obama years. If EPA actually enforced federal bonding requirements federal rules could supersede state regulations.
But now that Republicans have ceded their souls to Trump California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin are suing because the wannabe dictator is threatening the waters of the United States or WOTUS rules within the Clean Water Act.
“New Mexico’s heritage, economy, and family safety relies on access to clean water in our State,” said Attorney General Balderas. “This attack on one of our most valuable and vulnerable resources is unacceptable, and I will continue to fight to protect New Mexican families.”
The coalition asserts that the 2020 rule is unlawful under the federal Administrative Procedure Act because it:
Contradicts the Clean Water Act’s objective of maintaining and restoring the integrity of the Nation’s waters and the EPA's own scientific findings;
Arbitrarily and capriciously reduces and eliminates protections for ephemeral streams, tributaries, adjacent waters, wetlands and other important water resources that significantly affect downstream waters;
Fails to comply with controlling Supreme Court precedent established in Rapanos v. United States; and
Lacks a reasoned explanation or rational basis for changing long-standing policy and practice.Read or listen to the report at KRWG.
ip photo: Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.
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