Water Quality
In mid-September, the House passed an omnibus spending package containing all 12 of the major appropriations bills for fiscal year 2018. Senate appropriators are still working bills through the committee process. The House and Senate will need to reconcile their respective bills before the budget moves forward to President Trump for signature. Shortly after returning... Read More
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is pursuing a two-step process to repeal the Obama administration’s 2015 Waters of the U.S. rule and craft a replacement, using a narrower legal definition promoted by the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The Trump administration will hold 10 teleconferences and one in-person meeting to solicit input as it prepares... Read More
CASS WOTUS Comment Period Extension Request Read More
Recently, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed to rescind the Clean Water Rule. (Details available on the Federal Register). The Clean Water Rule, which was developed using the best available, peer-reviewed science, clarifies which waters are and are not categorically protected under the Clean Water Act. Specifically, the Clean... Read More
UPDATE: EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers have extended the comment period by 30 days for the proposed repeal of the Waters of the U.S. Rule (WOTUS) to provide additional time for stakeholders to weigh in. The comment period, as now extended, will close on September 27, 2017. https://www.epa.gov/wotus-rule/extension-comment-period-definition-waters-united-states-recodification-pre-existing The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is moving... Read More
The Trump administration is moving forward to repeal the 2015 Clean Water Rule (WOTUS). Last month, EPA and the Army Corps issued a proposed rule that was filed in the Federal Register today. The public comment period is open until August 28, 2017. AFS joined with the members of the Consortium of Aquatic Science Societies... Read More
UPDATE: The House of Representatives passed a security-themed “minibus” appropriations package on July 27, containing Defense, Energy & Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction-Veterans Affairs spending bills. The bill includes a controversial provision to exempt the repeal of the 2015 Clean Water Rule from the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). The policy rider would allow for an expedited... Read More
The Association of State Wetland Managers (ASWM) will host a webinar on July 11, 2017 from 12:00-2:00 p.m. ET featuring legal experts representing diverse perspectives on the Trump administration’s proposed repeal of the 2015 Clean Water Rule. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Army are carrying out a two-step process to repeal... Read More
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have begun the process of rescinding the 2015 Clean Water Rule. The repeal of the 2015 rule and replacement could result in a rollback of Clean Water Act protections for a majority of the nation’s streams and wetlands, including the headwater streams and... Read More
Earlier this week, President Trump issued an executive order to overturn the “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule approved by the Obama administration. In anticipation of this action, which was part of the President’s agenda, AFS has worked with its partners to prepare a letter to our leaders in support of the scientific basis of... Read More
