Iowa joins fight against EPA's 'overreaching' water rule

Gov. Terry Branstad said Tuesday Iowa will join 13 other states challenging a federal rule designed to protect smaller streams, tributaries and wetlands, saying the regulations are misguided and would harm farmers, landowners and small businesses.

Iowa will join the other states in a North Dakota lawsuit that challenges the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's controversial Waters of the U.S. rule.

The rule is "federal overreach that imposes significant barriers and impairs Iowa’s ability to advance innovative, water quality practices that would actually advance our common goal of water quality," Branstad said in a statement.

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State and congressional leaders have said the rule creates uncertainty for farmers and infringes on landowners' rights.

EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers crafted the rule to clarify the types of water bodies that would be regulated under the Clean Water Act, following two Supreme Court rulings. Federal leaders say the regulations are needed to limit pollution in small waterways and wetlands that 117 million Americans depend on for drinking water.

The regulation was issued in August, but a divided panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put the rule on hold last month while lawsuits around the country proceed.