Seyfarth Synopsis: Pursuant to President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) on “Restoring the Rule of Law… by Reviewing the “Waters of the United States” Rule, the Agencies have scheduled ten teleconferences to collect stakeholder recommendations on the revision of the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule.
We had previously blogged on the WOTUS rulemaking. See EPA and Army Corps of Engineers Propose to Rescind Obama Era Rule Redefining “Waters of the United States”, EPA Publishes Final Rule Expanding Definition of “Waters of the United States” Under the Clean Water Act, Proposed Rule on Definition of “Waters of the United States” Under the Clean Water Act, and New Definition of “Waters of the United States”?
The EPA and the Corps of Engineers have now issued an Announcement of Public Meeting Dates, 82 Fed. Reg. 40742 (August 28, 2017). In the Announcement, the Agencies note that they intend to propose a new definition for WOTUS that would replace the approach in the 2015 Clean Water Rule with one that is consistent with the approach outlined in the EO. The Agencies recently completed consultation processes with tribes and state and local governments on the rulemaking.
Now the Agencies seek to provide other interested stakeholders an opportunity to provide pre-proposal “feedback” on the rule to revise the definition of the WOTUS.
The teleconferences will be held on a weekly basis beginning September 19, 2017, and will continue each Tuesday thereafter for ten weeks. Each session will run from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., eastern time. Information on how to register for the meetings is available on the EPA Web site.
Persons or organizations that wish to provide verbal recommendations during the teleconference will be selected on a first-come, first-serve basis. Individuals will be asked to limit their oral presentation to three minutes.
Note that each of the ten sessions will be geared to particular entities and organizations (such as small businesses and small government jurisdictions), and business segments (such as construction, transportation, and mining). So it is importatant that you attend the session that most matches your particular interests in the rulemaking.
In addition, the Agencies are also planning an in-person meeting with small entities, to be held on Monday, October 23, 2017. Check the Announcement for attendance information.
