A federal judicial panel on multidistrict litigation this week denied a request from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (U.S. Corps) to consolidate the cases brought over the Clean Water Rule, also known as the “Waters of the United States Rule.” The request was to centralize in the District of Columbia pretrial proceedings in this litigation, which consists of nine actions pending in seven districts.
On the basis of the papers filed and hearing sessions held, the judicial panel concluded that “centralization will not serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses or further the just and efficient conduct of this litigation.” The panel also stated that “centralization of these actions would be problematic due to their procedural posture. Several motions for preliminary injunction relief already have been ruled upon, resulting in different jurisdictional rulings by the involved courts,” and therefore, “this procedural complication also weighs against centralization in this instance,” the panel wrote.
It appears EPA and the U.S. Corps will now have to defend its regulation from lawsuits by farm, energy and manufacturing groups and 31 states in seven different court districts following the judicial panel’s ruling this week.
