NASHVILLE – Calling it a states’ rights issue, 63 Tennessee lawmakers on Wednesday urged Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery to join a lawsuit challenging the Obama administration’s new rule allowing the federal government to regulate tributaries to rivers and streams.
That’s nearly half of the 132-member General Assembly.
State Rep. Sheila Butt, R-Columbia, said in a news release that she and other lawmakers want Slatery to join the suit filed by 27 states challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s new “waters of the United States” rule.
“I understand there is a cost to litigation,” Butt said. “However, the cost of implementing this rule to the agriculture industry and the personal property rights of Tennesseans would be far more devastating.”
Slatery spokesman Harlow B. Sumerford said “our office has received the letter and we appreciate the input from legislators. We are currently in conversations with our client, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, regarding the matter.”