Texas Attorney General Challenges EPA
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit to challenge the new federal regulations under the Clean Water Act.
Related: EPA Finds Little Risk to Drinking Water from Fracking
In a news release Monday, Paxton accuses the Obama Administration of illegally attempting to expand the jurisdiction and regulatory power of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in such a way as to threatens private property ownership.
The EPA’s final rule was published Monday and is very broad. it leaves much open to interpretation including whether ditches, dry creek beds, gullies and isolated ponds formed after a big rain could be considered a “water of the United States.”
Paxton is also sceptical of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan (“Carbon Rule”) and warned that it would have an impact on the livelihoods and quality of life of Texans and would result in higher electricity costs and less reliability for Texans, all while doing little to nothing to affect the environment. Attorney General Paxton last month announced Texas intends to challenge the Carbon Rule when it is finalized by the EPA later this summer.
Read more at texasattorneygeneral.org