From American Rivers:
American Rivers is today announcing its disapproval of the Environmental Protection Agency’s new proposed definition of the “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) provision of the Clean Water Act.
“This proposed rule is unnecessary and damaging and ignores the scientific reality of what is happening to our nation’s water supply and the promise being made of regulatory certainty is misleading. It would like make things worse for flood-prone communities and industries dependent on clean, reliable water,” said Leda Huta, vice president of government relations for American Rivers. “The EPA is taking a big swipe at the Clean Water Act, our greatest tool for ensuring clean water nationwide. We implore them to reverse course.”
As written currently, the rule would dramatically reduce the reasonable science-based protections that used to protect our wetlands, streams, lakes and rivers across the country. Proposed rule language that interprets the Sackett v. EPA Supreme Court decision sets out a two-part test on the presence of surface water and whether a waterbody is connected to another flowing body of water. This proposed two-part test has no bearing on the ecological function of wetlands and our nation’s waterways.
The Sackett ruling created the severe limitation of what is considered a jurisdictional waterbody by creating the terms “relatively permanent waterbody” and “continuous surface connection” that must be used in any rulemaking.
