EPA and the Corps of Engineers Seek Comments on Definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS)

On August 4, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) issued a notice of solicitation of pre-proposal feedback of the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act. EPA and the Corps plan to initiate two separate rulemakings, the first of which would restore the regulations defining WOTUS in place until 2015 and the second of which would modify the pre-2015 definition of WOTUS. EPA and the Corps are specifically requesting comments on the significant nexus analysis, how to incorporate environmental justice into the definition of WOTUS, the scope of jurisdictional tributaries, the scope of adjacency, and exclusions from the definition.  EPA and the Corps will be hosting five listening sessions on August 18, 2021 from 3:00 – 5:00 pm (ET), August 23, 2021 from 1:00 – 3:00 pm (ET), August 25, 2021 from 3:00 – 5:00 pm (ET), August 26, 2021 from 6:00 – 8:00 pm (ET), and August 31, 2021from 3:00 – 5:00 pm (ET). Comments on the notice are due September 3, 2021.

• Read the Federal Register notice and submit comments here.
• Register for the listening sessions here.
• Advocacy contact: Astrika Adams at (202) 205-6948.