9th Circuit Reinstates CWA 401 Rule, Limiting Courts’ Vacatur Power

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has overturned a district court’s order vacating EPA’s Trump-era Clean Water Act (CWA) section 401 rule, agreeing with the agency, industry and GOP-led states that the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) only allows courts to scrap rules after finding them unlawful. “[T]he district court lacked the authority to vacate the 2020 Rule without first holding it unlawful. We therefore must reverse the district court’s order in its entirety...