{"id":33416,"date":"2021-09-09T18:56:49","date_gmt":"2021-09-09T23:56:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/trumps-dirty-water-rule-struck-down\/"},"modified":"2021-09-09T18:56:49","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T23:56:49","slug":"trumps-dirty-water-rule-struck-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/trumps-dirty-water-rule-struck-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s Dirty Water Rule struck down"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A typical watershed threatened by Trump\u2019s Dirty Water Rule. (Photo courtesy of Wildearth Guardians.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

TUCSON, AZ\u2014Mni Wiconi, \u201cWater is Life,\u201d was the rallying cry of the Oceti Sakowin tribes that stood against the DAPL pipeline at Standing Rock, but threats to clean water have been an issue across the nation, impacting dozens of tribes for many years. Last week, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona ruled that President Trump\u2019s Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR) alterations to President Obama\u2019s 2015 Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule would lead to \u201cthe possibility of serious environmental harm,\u201d and struck them down.<\/p>\n

Arizona District Court Judge Rosemary M\u00e1rquez said Trump\u2019s alterations contained \u201cfundamental, substantive flaws that cannot be cured without revising or replacing the NWPR\u2019s definition of \u2018waters of the United States.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The WOTUS rule was altered in 2020 by Trump\u2019s NWPR, which far from protecting, removed protections for creeks and streams, particularly those that are dry at certain times of the year. Opponents of NWPR called it the Dirty Water Rule.<\/p>\n

The Trump Administration\u2019s rationale for NWPR was that WOTUS was a \u201cmassive power grab\u201d by the federal government and threatened the ability of landowners to modify their land for their economic benefit. Wyoming had filed suit against the Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s interpretation and application of WOTUS. David Ross represented Wyoming in that lawsuit and Trump selected Ross to be his administration\u2019s EPA water chief. Ross was exactly the person that those hostile to WOTUS wanted in place at EPA when Trump\u2019s NWPR officially replaced WOTUS on January 23, 2020.<\/p>\n

Earthjustice, representing six federally recognized tribes, filed suit against the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers.\u00a0 The Arizona District Court ruled in their favor, but it is unclear at present if that ruling applies to all tribes across the nation.<\/p>\n

Janette Brimmer, Earthjustice attorney, said: \u201cThe court recognized that the serious legal and scientific errors of the Dirty Water Rule were causing irreparable damage to our nation\u2019s waters and would continue to do so unless that rule was vacated. This sensible ruling allows the Clean Water Act to continue to protect all of our waters while the Biden administration develops a replacement rule.\u201d<\/p>\n

The elected leaders of the six lawsuit tribes weighed in on the court ruling:<\/p>\n

Guy Capoeman, president of the Quinault Indian Nation: \u201cSmall headwater streams are fundamental to the protection and restoration of salmon and our way of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gunnar Peters, chair of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin: \u201cIt is inconceivable that critical waters or wetlands would be considered insignificant or unworthy of pollution protections. Proper\u202f federal regulation \u202fprotects wetlands and headwater streams from irreparable harm and destruction. It also protects our history, our culture, and our people\u2019s way of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tohono O\u2019odham Nation Chairman Ned Norris, Jr: \u201cThe sacred waters that were put at risk by the Trump administration are essential to our cultural and religious lives as indigenous people. This includes springs in Southern Arizona sacred to the O\u2019odham that are threatened by a foreign mining company which used Trump\u2019s dirty water rule to try to advance its destructive project. This decision by the court rightfully vacates a grievous error.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peter Yucupicuo, chair of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe: \u201cToday\u2019s ruling will restore protections for entire categories of waterways that play a vital role in sustaining our communities, our livelihood and our environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The specific parts of Obama\u2019s 2015 WOTUS protection rule that bothered the Trump Administration were:<\/p>\n