Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
The EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (agencies) have initiated what they describe as a “two-step process” that will result in a revised definition of the Clean Water Act (CWA) term waters of the United States (WOTUS). The first step is a proposed rule that would rescind the Obama administration’s WOTUS definition (June […]
President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team indicated that E. Scott Pruitt, a Republican and the two-term attorney general (AG) of Oklahoma is Trump’s choice to serve as administrator of the EPA. As AG, Pruitt has fought relentlessly against what he perceives to be federal overreach into the rights of the states and has continually expressed the […]
Industry and many states are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide a critical jurisdictional matter related to the Clean Water Rule ((CWR), June 29, 2015, Federal Register (FR) promulgated by the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). More commonly called the waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule, the action provided […]
Conspicuous by its absence in the 2016 Democratic platform (platform) is any mention of EPA’s Clean Water Rule (CWR). Currently being challenged in federal courts, the Agency and Army Corps of Engineers’ definition of waters of the United States (WOTUS) has thoroughly alienated the nation’s farmers, and apparently the Democratic National Committee does not view […]
In a 2-to-1 opinion in which each judge expressed different views, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit said that it would rule on consolidated petitions challenging the Clean Water Rule (CWR), jointly issued on June 29, 2015, by the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (agencies).
After failing the day before to collect the votes needed to approve a bill to force the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers (EPA/Corps) to rewrite their embattled June 29, 2015, Clean Water Rule (also called WOTUS for waters of the United States), Senate opponents of the rule gained the simple majority needed to pass […]
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (Court) recently issued a stay nationwide against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) from enforcing the revised definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS), also known as the Clean Water Rule.
Who Gets WOTUSed? Do the waterbodies near where you want to either develop or expand meet the new definition of waters of the United States (WOTUS), requiring you to get a permit? Here are some things to consider. You Need to Get a Permit if the Water … Is currently in use, was used at […]
What WOTUS Does Briefly, WOTUS redefines which waters are waters of the United States and, by doing so, decides whether your project will need a permit. According to the EPA, the rule does not alter existing exemptions from Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction, including exemptions for normal farming, ranching, and silviculture activities. The major and most […]