"President Biden has gone full throttle in his first 100 days seeking to reverse Trump-era environmental rollbacks. But on one controversial rule, the president's team may not be able to outpace the judicial system.
Key lawsuits that could define the reach of the Clean Water Act are working their way through federal courts — despite Biden administration attempts to stop them so it can craft its own regulations.
The cases concern what waterways and wetlands qualify for federal protections, a question that has befuddled judges for two decades.
One conservative legal group is hoping it can quickly return the issue to the Supreme Court, putting the Biden administration in the tricky position of litigating the definition of 'waters of the U.S.,' or WOTUS, before it has time to issue its own regulation.
'Those cases are pushing the administration to act,' said Melissa Kelly of the University of California, Irvine, School of Law. 'The administration clearly wants to avoid a decision on the merits before it is able to.'"
Jeremy P. Jacobs and Pamela King report for E&E News April 28, 2021.
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