EPA and the Corps Announce Opportunities for Public Input on WOTUS

On August 25, the US EPA and the Corps today announced a series of teleconferences, one in-person meeting, and other opportunities for public input on Waters of the US (WOTUS) this fall. “The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of the Army (the agencies) will hold ten teleconferences to hear from stakeholders their recommendations to revise the definition of “Waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act (CWA),” the announcement starts. “Both EPA and the Corps are aware that the scope of [Clean Water Act] jurisdiction is of intense interest to a broad array of stakeholders and therefore want to provide time for broad pre-proposal input,” the notice states. View the full announcement here.

The Realtors® Land Institute (RLI) stands behind the US EPA’s decision yesterday to move forward repealing the controversial Clean Water rule which was put in place in 2015. RLI has long advocated that withdrawing WOTUS would have a beneficial impact on the real estate sector, especially land real estate. The organization hopes to see the review of the rule eliminate the need for costly and time-consuming permits on waters that were previously unregulated by the federal government.

RLI encourages its members and landowners across the country to participate in the comment period during phase one, which is implementing a rule to re-codify the regulation that was in place prior to 2015. This comment period is currently open through September 27, 2017.

RLI also encourages participation in the series of teleconferences that will be held to better define the scope of CWA jurisdiction. The teleconferences will be held on a weekly basis beginning September 19, 2017. For a full schedule of webinars and ways to participate, please see the full announcement.