WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court decided that challenges to the Obama administration’s Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule – the rule defining what waters across the country fall under federal jurisdiction and by extension federal permitting – must be first routed through federal district courts (as opposed to federal circuit courts), Politico reports. That ruling represents a setback for the Trump administration.

The ruling will effectively remove the stay imposed by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, which means that at some point soon the current WOTUS rule would go into effect in 37 states. Another 13 states are still under a stay issued by a North Dakota district court.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) indicated it would finalize a rule that would delay the implementation of the Obama rule in a few weeks. “We had a plan in place to address this exact situation,” said David Ross, the agency’s water chief. The EPA will now work to finalize its 24-month delay of the WOTUS before the 6th Circuit Court’s stay is lifted.

Last fall, NACS filed comments supporting a return of WOTUS to its pre-2015 definition because the association believes the agency and the Army Corps of Engineers didn’t sufficiently consider the rule’s impact on small businesses, including fuel retailers.