EPA, Army Corps of Engineers Seek to Rescind WOTUS Rule

Rescinding the waters of the United States, or WOTUS, rule is being proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.The new proposed rule would rescind the WOTUS rule, also known as the Clean Water Rule, and "re-codify the regulatory text" that was in place before the WOTUS rule was adopted in 2015. "We are taking significant action to return power to the states and provide regulatory certainty to our nation's farmers and businesses," EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said. "This is the first step in the two-step process to redefine 'waters of the U.S.' and we are committed to moving through this re-evaluation to quickly provide regulatory certainty, in a way that is thoughtful, transparent and collaborative with other agencies and the public."EPA and the Corps have been reaching out to stakeholders to discuss what a revised rule might look like. In mid-April, EPA met with state and local officials in Washington, D.C., to outline plans for replacing the rule.EPA has completed the proposed rule to rescind WOTUS and it will be published in the Federal Register with a 30-day comment period.Reaction has been largely predictable, with farm-state lawmakers welcoming the move and environmentalists critical of the plan."WOTUS has never been about clean water, it was about feeding the Obama EPA's insatiable appetite for power. Well that ends now," House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway, R-Texas, said.However, Conaway said lawmakers still need to keep focused on the issue to make certain agriculture interests are not continuing to be affected by the WOTUS rule, urging the Corps and the U.S. Department of Justice to "re-evaluate and revise their enforcement of the Clean Water Act and WOTUS to ensure we protect our farmers and ranchers from onerous fines and penalties that threaten their way of life." He added he expected the Trump administration will "get it right" when it comes up with the new rule.From the environmentalist side, Howard Learner, executive director of the Environmental Law and Policy Center said, "This foolish rollback of clean water standards rejects years of work building stakeholder input and scientific data support, and it imperils the progress for safe clean drinking water in the Midwest."Key will be what the administration's proposal to replace WOTUS and that is still a work in progress. Easy forecast is that it will be less stringent than the current WOTUS rule. But this, like the WOTUS rule itself, will likely end up in court. But even before that, a finalization of the rule to rescind WOTUS will also be a legal target. Bottom line: The battle over WOTUS is not over, but at least one potential action is at hand