News

Water Quality

Timeline to Replace Clean Water Rule Released; Congress Dips its Toes in WOTUS; AFS Seeks Experts to Synthesize Science on Importance of Headwaters Streams to Fish

Last week, the White House released an updated timeline to repeal and replace the 2015 Clean Water Rule, also known as the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule. According to a document released on Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers will not finalize their planned repeal of the Clean... Read More

World Water Day Brings Good News on Clean Water Rule (WOTUS)

On this World Water Day, AFS learned that a troubling policy rider related to the Clean Water Rule was removed from the Omnibus budget bill for Fiscal Year 2018.  The rider would have allowed EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to repeal the 2015 Clean Water Rule without following the Administrative Procedures Act. That means the agencies could ignore public... Read More

Clean Water Act Policy Rider

There continues to be a concern that a policy rider in a Senate Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill that exempts the repeal of the Clean Water Rule from the Administrative Procedures Act might make its way to final passage of a Fiscal Year 2018 spending bill.  Earlier this year, the CASS groups sent... Read More

PRESIDENT’S COMMENTARY: The AFS Role in High-Priority Policy Issues

By Steve McMullin, AFS President President Barack Obama once famously said, “Elections have consequences.” The first year of the Trump Administration clearly demonstrates the truth of that statement, and the consequences for fisheries and the environment are potentially “huge.” The Trump Administration’s approach to science and the environment during its first year in office included... Read More

December 13 Deadline for WOTUS Comments – Updated

AFS is joining with other science societies to oppose the EPA’s most recent proposal to add an “effective date” to the 2015 rule. We believe that this action is an attempt to amend the Clean Water Rule. AFS believes that any agency action concerning WOTUS—including the effective suspension of the Clean Water Rule—must be supported... Read More

WOTUS Hearing Update

The House Science, Space and Technology’s Subcommittee on the Environment held a hearing to discuss the future of the Waters of the U.S. Rule or “WOTUS” rule on Wednesday, November 29, 2017. The Trump Administration is seeking to repeal the rule that clarifies which wetlands and small waterways are protected by the Clean Water Act. ... Read More

House To Examine State Capacity to Administer Wetland Protection

The House Science, Space and Technology’s Subcommittee on the Environment is scheduled to discuss the future of the Waters of the U.S. Rule or “WOTUS” rule on Wednesday, November 29, 2017. The regulation determines which wetlands and small waterways are protected by the Clean Water Act.  The subcommittee will also examine state participation in administering... Read More

Science Societies Oppose Scalia Definition of WOTUS

In June, the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced the proposed repeal of the 2015 Clean Water Rule in anticipation of replacing it with a narrower definition of “Waters of the U.S.” or “WOTUS.”   The EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers are currently soliciting recommendations for this new definition, the second... Read More