By Michael Biesecker / Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is delaying implementation of an Obama-era clean water rule by another two years to give the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers more time to do away with it.
The move Wednesday follows a Supreme Court ruling last week that legal challenges to the Waters of the U.S. rule be decided in federal district courts. That will result in the lifting of a stay issued by an appeals court blocking the 2015 rule from going into effect.
By moving the effective date to 2020, the administration buys itself more time to issue a replacement.
The rule expanded the definitions under which wetlands and small waterways are regulated under the Clean Water Act — prompting opposition from agribusiness, mining and industry groups.
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