Judge halts Trump rule that suspended clean water protection

CHARLESTON (AP) A federal judge in South Carolina has ruled the Trump administration did not properly seek public input when it suspended protections designed to thwart waterway pollution.

The Post and Courier newspaper reports the decision by U.S. District Judge David Norton in Charleston favors environmental groups in allowing restrictions on development around certain waterways. The regulations are aimed at reducing stormwater runoff.

The ruling is likely to be appealed. It doesn’t apply in several other states where legal action continues.

But Bob Irvin, president and CEO of American Rivers, one of the groups that filed suit in Charleston against the government, called it a “huge win” for clean water.

Under then-President Barack Obama, the federal government issued a new rule under the Clean Water Act expanding definitions of wetlands and small waterways to better protect groundwater supplies.