Judge blocks Obama administration water rule

On Thursday, a federal judge in North Dakota blocked a new Obama administration rule that would give the federal government jurisdiction of small waterways. The rule would allow the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers to regulate some small streams, tributaries and wetlands under the Clean Water Act. The temporary injunction against the rule was requested by North Dakota and 12 other states, and enacted only hours before it was set to take effect. The rule has been strongly opposed by many, including farmers. Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, who filed the injunction request, thought the ruling should apply to all 50 states. The Environmental Protection Agency said that it only applied to the 13 states that opposed it, and decided to enforce it in all the other states.