AGC filed comments this week on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s joint proposed rule to repeal the 2015 definition of “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS). AGC offered strong support for the agencies’ plan to re-codify regulatory text that existed prior to the 2015 WOTUS rule to “reflect[] the current legal regime under which the agencies are operating” following a nationwide stay of the rule by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
In a separate effort, the agencies have opened a docket to collect written comments (until Nov. 28) on how the WOTUS definition should be revised, particularly with regard to the charge in the President’s Executive Order. To this end, as outlined in an earlier Federal Register notice, the agencies will host a series of webinars for different stakeholder groups and one in-person meeting for small entities – all for the purpose of soliciting “pre-proposal feedback.”  The construction and transportation webinar is set for Oct. 10.  In addition, there is an “in-person” meeting on Oct. 23 for small-business representatives. Registration: https://www.epa.gov/wotus-rule/outreach-meetings.
AGC will continue to work with its members and coalition partners (Waters Advocacy Coalition and Federal StormWater Association) to remain fully engaged in this important rulemaking process.
For more information, please contact Leah Pilconis at [email protected] or (703) 837-5332 or Melinda Tomaino at [email protected] or (703) 837-5415.