CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State AG Patrick Morrisey commended a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday allowing a Minnesota turf supplier to challenge the Corps of Engineers’ claim that its business – more than 120 river miles from the nearest navigable waterway – sits on federal wetland.
Morrisey and Ohio AG Mike DeWine led 21 states in arguing property owners are entitled to immediately challenge the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers in court anytime its officials label someone’s property as a protected wetland under the EPA’s Waters of the United States rule (WOTUS).
“Today’s ruling marks an important victory for every West Virginian,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “It yet again prohibits the federal government from using regulation to exceed its authority.”
The court previously rejected a similar move by the EPA against the location of an Idaho couple’s home.
Opponents of the WOTUS regulation have argued that the regulation unlawfully expands the federal reach over several small bodies of water, including short-lived streams, roadside ditches and anywhere water may flow once every 100 years.