A Republican state-led legal challenge to a new EPA water permitting policy should be dismissed over lack of standing, the Biden administration told a court this week.
The policy rolled back Trump-era changes to the energy permitting process, restoring state and tribal authority to review the potential effects of pipelines, dams and other infrastructure on water quality under the Clean Water Act.
Eleven states are now suing EPA to revert to the Trump-era version. The states include oil- and gas-producing powerhouses like Louisiana, Oklahoma and West Virginia. They argue that the Biden administration’s rule makes it easier for other states to block important projects.
But in a legal filing responding to their claims this week, the Department of Justice said the states essentially have no case because they haven’t explained why or how they would be harmed by EPA’s rule.
