A federal judge granted summary judgment to 10 states—including Georgia—challenging stricter Clean Water Act regulations from the administration of President Barack Obama.

The states have challenged the 2015 Waters of the United States Rule, saying its a regulatory overreach into their authority.

"The issues in this case are whether the agencies extended their jurisdiction beyond the limits of the CWA, failed to adhere to the procedures of the Administrative Procedure Act … and violated the Constitution by promulgating the WOTUS Rule," Judge Lisa Godbey Wood of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia said in an 84-page order Wednesday. "The court holds that the WOTUS Rule extends the agencies' delegated authority beyond the limits of the CWA, and thus is not a permissible construction of the phrase 'waters of the United States' within the statute, and that the agencies' promulgation of the WOTUS Rule violates the APA's procedural requirements."

The judge remanded the WOTUS Rule to federal environmental agencies for revision. She left her preliminary injunction in place for the meantime, "pending the outcome of the ongoing administrative proceedings."

Attorneys for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on the losing side of the ruling did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr applauded the ruling.

"For more than four years, Georgia has led a multistate coalition in the fight against the 2015 WOTUS Rule, a clear example of federal overreach that infringed on the states' traditional role as primary regulators of land and water resources within their borders," Carr said in a news release. "We are proud to have fought for this relief, and we look forward to reforms that will permanently relieve farmers and landowners of the unnecessary burdens that the 2015 WOTUS Rule created."

Carr highlighted a passage from the judge's order saying, "Congress has delegated the important role of protecting the nation's waters to the agencies, but in fulfilling that role the agencies must comply with the law. Here, they have failed to do just that."

Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Army proposed rules that would rescind and replace the 2015 WOTUS Rule. In April of this year, Georgia joined other states in submitting comments supporting that proposal.

The 10-state coalition included: Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia and the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

The Georgia attorney general's office solicitor general's unit has led the effort, but has had to switch counsel twice. Britt Grant and Sarah Warren were both terminated after they left the job for Georgia Supreme Court appointments. Grant has since left the Supreme Court to join the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Georgia Solicitor General Andrew Pinson is the current lead attorney.

Gov. Brian Kemp also cheered the decision.

"Today's court ruling rightfully rejected gross federal overreach into state land and water regulation, ultimately protecting the livelihoods of thousands of Georgia farm families and agribusinesses," Kemp said in a news release. "I thank Attorney General Carr for his leadership and look forward to working with leaders in our state's top industry to ensure a bright future for Georgia agriculture."

Kemp's news release included a statement from Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black.

"Four years ago, federal regulators tried to sell us a bill of goods with this wretched rule," Black said. "The court has now rightfully replied back 'going, going, gone'."