South Dakota has joined 21 other states as a friend of the court or Amicus brief in challenging the EPA over their expansion of authority under the Clean Water Act. The American Farm Bureau originally brought the case and it involves the EPA setting total maximum daily loads over the Chesapeake Bay. South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley says that transcends that area and could affect the Missouri and Mississippi River basins.

 

Jackley says it wasn’t a difficult decision in joining the case as he thinks the EPA is micromanaging state and local government’s decisions regarding land use and development by using the Chesapeake Bay to expand its authority under the Clean Water Act.

 

He says South Dakota is joining a bi partisan group of Attorneys General challenging the EPA in court.

 

Jackley says the Attorney Generals are arguing that the EPA’s expansive interpretation of the Clean Water Act and complex regulatory requirements harm and create uncertainty for the agriculture community and small businesses.