South Carolina joins 8 states to challenge EPA water rule

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina and eight other states are suing over new water regulations they say are unconstitutional.

Attorney General Alan Wilson said Tuesday the state had joined in the federal lawsuit filed in Georgia against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The lawsuit asks a court to strike down a new rule opponents say unlawfully expands the federal government’s regulatory reach over local streams and lands.

Wilson’s office says the rule would extend federal regulatory reach to an untold number of small bodies of water, including roadside ditches or any other area where the agencies believe water may flow once every 100 years.

South Carolina joins Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin in the lawsuit. Other states have filed their own challenges.