The Garden State is going to court over the Trump administration's efforts to rollback Obama-era water protections.

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal joined nine other states Tuesday in suing the Environmental Protection Agency over the federal agency's suspension of the Clean Water Rule, an Obama-era regulation that expanded federal clean water protections.

"The Trump Administration has taken a comprehensive, science-based rule designed to protect our most precious natural resource - clean water - and suspended it without authority to do so, and without observing proper procedures," said Attorney General Grewal in a press release Tuesday. "We are glad to take part in the fight to halt this unlawful and harmful action."

The federal Clean Water Act gives the EPA authority to enforce clean water protections in bodies of water considered "Waters of the United States." The Clean Water Rule expanded protections by broadly defining Waters of the U.S. as both navigable waters and the waters that flow into them.

Environmentalists praise the Clean Water Rule as a boost to pollution protections and clean water. Supporters of the rule point to the fact that river systems often cross state lines, so federal regulation is needed to protect the public health of all Americans.

"[Waters of the U.S.] would help to protect New Jersey from pollution and flooding from other states that don't have the same levels of protection we have," New Jersey Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel said Tuesday.

Opponents of the rule, however, have argued that the broad definitions are an overstep of federal authority and a burden on economic growth.

The Clean Water Rule was scheduled to go into effect in August 2015, but legal challenges prevented the rule from being implemented. The rule was blocked by a federal appeals court in October 2015, but a Supreme Court ruling on Jan. 22 sent the issue back to federal district courts and the Obama-era rule was set go into effect soon after.

On Jan. 31, however, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt formally ordered the suspension of the rule.

Grewal was joined by attorneys general from New York, California, Connecticut, Maryland, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Massachusetts, as well as the District of Columbia. The complaint was filed by New York Attorney General Eric Scheidernman in the Southern New York district court.

The complaint's main argument is that the EPA acted outside it's authority by suspending the rule after its effective date. The complaint also argues that the EPA didn't give the public enough time to comment on the suspension, and that the EPA failed to consider its own scientific findings.

Last Friday, Grewal was one of multiple state attorneys general that sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke opposing the Trump administration's plan to expand offshore oil and gas drilling in federal waters. Grewal has also withdrawn New Jersey from a multi-state lawsuit against the EPA regarding the implementation of the Clean Power Plan.

Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MSolDub.