On Jan. 13, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to the National Association of Manufacturers petition in the challenge to the EPA’s Waters of the U.S. regulation.
The organization asked the Supreme Court to review a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, where many suits challenging the WOTUS rule have been consolidated. The panel's decision conflicts with decisions in similar cases by other federal appeals courts, which concluded that such challenges should be heard at the District Court level. NAM outlined in detail why 33 U.S.C. Sec. 1369(b) does not allow courts of appeals to hear this challenge.
The Sixth Circuit's decision put challengers to the EPA rule in an untenable position - if that court does not actually have jurisdiction to hear the case, any action it takes could thereafter be overturned on appeal, without even considering the merits of the challenge, and we would have to start the case over at the trial court level. This would be a tremendous waste of resources for manufacturers and others parties affected by the rule, the Administration, and the courts. Delaying review of the jurisdictional question, which must ultimately be resolved in any case, makes no sense, so we are very pleased that the Supreme Court decided today to resolve this issue.
