Water Quality
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
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
On January 22, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that challenges to the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule must be heard in district courts rather than in U.S. Federal Courts of Appeal presenting a procedural hurdle to the Trump Administration’s efforts to repeal and replace the 2015 rule with a narrower rule. Industry and local... Read More
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
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
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
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
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
In early 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to resolve jurisdictional wrangling over which federal court should hear challenges to the Environmental Protection Agency’s contentious 2015 Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule. That rule sought to clarify the definition of “navigable waters” in the Clean Water Act (CWA). Earlier this month, the nation’s highest court... Read More
Time is running out to submit your comment to EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers on the proposed repeal of the Waters of the U.S. Rule (WOTUS). The comment period will close on September 27, 2017. Make your voice heard! Comment here. AFS and 11 other science societies submitted a joint comment letter to oppose the... Read More
