On June 29, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) issued a supplemental proposal to the July 2017 proposed action to repeal the 2015 Obama Administration definition of “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS).
Public feedback on the July 2017 proposal indicated some level of public confusion about the agencies’ intent. As such, the EPA and USACE issued this supplemental proposal to clarify that the agencies are proposing to permanently repeal the 2015 WOTUS rule in its entirety and keep the pre-2015 regulatory framework in place until a new WOTUS rule is finalized.
The Associated General Contractors of America issued a statement in support of the EPA and USACE effort to repeal and replace the 2015 WOTUS rule and will provide comment as necessary on this proposal.