Puget Soundkeeper Alliance v. EPA

On June 22, 2020, two additional lawsuits challenging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and EPA’s revised definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) contended that the adoption of the definition violated the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to consider climate change. The new lawsuits, this one in the Western District of Washington and the <a href="https://climatecasechart.com/case/pascua-yaqui-tribe-v-epa/">other</a> in the District of Arizona, alleged that the agencies’ “decision to narrow the scope of waters protected under the Clean Water Act and to base the final rule on the permanence of surface flow in a typical year without considering the effects of climate change is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.” At least two other lawsuits challenging the WOTUS rule—<a href="https://climatecasechart.com/case/california-v-wheeler/">California v. Wheeler</a> and <a href="https://climatecasechart.com/case/conservation-law-foundation-v-epa-3/">Conservation Law Foundation v. EPA</a>—have also challenged this aspect of the definition.