GHENT – State Rep. Chris Swedzinski, R-Ghent, is calling on Minnesota’s attorney general office to seek an injunction halting enforcement of a Barack Obama administration Waters of the United States rule.
Approximately 30 other states – including Iowa, Wisconsin and both Dakotas – have been successful in receiving injunctions against the federal WOTUS rule adopted under the 2015 Clean Water Act. Those states now are – at least temporarily – exempt from the rule, which expands the definition of bodies of water to also place streams, wetlands, and adjacent water under federal jurisdiction.
Swedzinski said the basic definition of bodies of water is crucial since it ultimately determines which bodies of water can be subject to federal regulations. Swedzinski said an injunction would protect Minnesota farmers and other landowners from what he views as federal government “overreach” while the issue is fully litigated.
“It is clear there are problems with this federal rule and the least the state of Minnesota can do is defend its citizens as things play out in the courts,” Swedzinski said. “The state has done enough damage to property owners over the years with its own overregulation and we can’t just stand by and let the federal government come in and make things worse. I urge the attorney general’s office to put Minnesota in line with the dozens of other states that have sided with citizens on this issue by seeking an injunction on this federal overreach.”
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