WASHINGTON–U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) today praised U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson in North Dakota for granting a preliminary injunction requested by Arkansas and twelve other states against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule:

“This injunction comes just in time as the EPA’s overreaching rule was slated to go into effect today. Thankfully, Judge Erickson recognized that this mandate goes well beyond the scope of the Clean Water Act and its implementation carries ‘the risk of irreparable harm to the states.’

This is an important first step in the legal battle and I commend Attorney General Rutledge for her leadership in this case. I know she is committed to seeing this fight through to the end. Our Congressional delegation is as well. While the legal battles continue, my colleagues and I are pursuing legislative fixes to the mess the EPA has created.

During my agriculture tour last week, Arkansans regularly spoke of the devastating effects WOTUS would have on their personal property rights. They see this as yet another abuse of executive authority by President Obama. Arkansans don’t need bureaucrats in Washington telling them how to use their land. We can do this best by protecting the role of states, local communities and private citizens to be a part of the process, instead of giving all power to Washington.”