PLF challenges EPA’s power grab

Pacific Legal Foundation is representing Wyoming rancher Andy Johnson in challenging an EPA compliance order threatening him with $37,500 per day in fines for constructing a stock pond on his property. PLF’s lawsuit, Andy Johnson v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, argues that Johnson’s pond is expressly exempt from the Clean Water Act, and that the stream in which he constructed the pond is not a jurisdictional water because it does not affect a navigable water.

EPA’s threats in this case are particularly indefensible. According to a former Corps of Engineers enforcement officer, the pond has many environmental benefits, including fish and wildlife habitat and enhanced water quality.