A federal district court judge in Arizona repeatedly pressed a Justice Department (DOJ) attorney during an Aug. 4 hearing to justify the Biden administration's opposition to vacating the Trump-era waters of the United States (WOTUS) definition even as it seeks a remand without vacatur so officials can repeal and replace the regulation. Vacating the Trump-era rule, as environmentalists and other plaintiffs want, could complicate efforts by EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to re-write the definition but would also have the effect of returning areas subject to such a ruling to a patchwork of standards that regulated entities vehemently oppose, fearing "regulatory chaos." During the hearing in Pascua Yaqui Tribe, et al. v. EPA, et al, Judge Rosemary Marquez asked DOJ attorney Daniel Pinkston to explain why she should not vacate the Trump-era WOTUS definition if she grants DOJ's request for a voluntary remand of the rule, saying remand with vacatur appears to be the norm.
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