Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 7/5/18


The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of the Army have launched a new public comment round, this time on the legal basis of the “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule, to supplement a July 2017 proposal to repeal the regulation passed in 2015.

After reviewing hundreds of thousands of comments on the July 2017 proposal to repeal WOTUS, the agencies are issuing a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking to clarify that they are proposing to permanently repeal the 2015 rule in its entirety.
“By issuing today’s supplemental proposal, we are responding to public feedback, expanding opportunities for comment, and providing clarity and transparency in the rulemaking process,” EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said in a news release. “We are making it clear that we are proposing to permanently and completely repeal the 2015 WOTUS rule and keep the pre-2015 regulatory framework in place as we work on a new, improved WOTUS definition.”

The notice will give the public an opportunity to comment on additional considerations that support the agencies’ proposed repeal. Some of those considerations were not detailed in the initial proposal, the agencies said.

The agencies are still reviewing the comments received on the July 2017 proposal and will be accepting public comment on the supplemental proposal for 30 days after it is published in the Federal Register.

The EPA and the Army are working through a two-step process to consider revisions to the definition of “waters of the United States.”

Earlier this year, the EPA said it was delaying implementation of WOTUS by two years as it works to rescind the regulation, which expanded the definition of the types of waterways that fell under federal jurisdiction. Farmers and livestock operations complained that it made them responsible for fertilizer or manure runoff into streams that they could not possibly control.

President Trump’s executive order on the WOTUS review states that U.S. navigable waters should be kept free from pollution, “while at the same time promoting economic growth, minimizing regulatory uncertainty, and showing due regard for the roles of Congress and the states under the Constitution.”

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