A collection of letters that have been adopted and sent by the Western States Water Council:
EPA and Corps Rulemaking on Waters of the United States
In accordance with President Trump’s February 28th Executive Order, Restoring the Rule of Law, Federalism, and Economic Growth by Reviewing the ‘Waters of the United States’ Rule, EPA initiated a multifaceted federalism consultation process to obtain state and local government officials’ perspectives. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said they are “restoring states’ important role in the regulation of water,” and working “with our state governments to understand what they think is the best way to protect their waters, and what actions they are already taking to do so. We want to return to a regulatory partnership, rather than regulate by executive fiat.”
EPA is particularly interested in hearing from states regarding the impact of such a change and how states do or would regulate those waters excluded from federal jurisdiction, or “Waters of the State.”
EPA held several webinars to provide an overview of potential changes under consideration for the definition of “Waters of the U.S.” EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plan to propose a new definition that would replace the approach in the 2015 Clean Water Rule with one that reflects the principles that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia outlined in the Rapanos plurality opinion, indicating CWA jurisdiction includes relatively permanent waters and wetlands with a continuous surface connection to relatively permanent waters.
Below are a few of the letters sent to EPA concerning the development of a new rule.
Association of Clean Water Administrators
Corps Rulemaking on Water Supply and Surplus Waters
On December 16, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) published a notice of proposed rulemaking, 81 FR 91556, updating its policies on the use of Corps reservoir projects for domestic, municipal, and industrial water supply. The revisions are intended to “enhance the Corps’ ability to cooperate with State and local interests in the development of water supplies,” take into account court decisions, legislative provisions and other developments, to bring greater clarity and consistency across regions, and to facilitate or avoid interfering with other lawful uses of water. The Corps proposes to define key terms and improve its interpretations and practices under the authority of the 1944 Flood Control Act (33 USC §708) and the 1958 Water Supply Act (43 USC §390b). Further information may be found here. Comments may be posted to www.regulations.gov under docket #COE-2015-0016 through May 15. A selection of some of the related letters submitted is included below:
Western Governors’ Association
Missouri Tristate Water Association
Nebraska Lewis and Clark Natural Resource District
North Dakota Water Users Association
EPA Rulemaking on Water Quality Standards for Tribes
WSWC Comment on EPA Baseline WQS
South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources
North Dakota Division of Water Quality
Washington State Department of Ecology
Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians