EPA & U.S. Army Ask for State Input on WOTUS

On May 8, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and U.S. Army senior official Douglas Lamont sent a letter to the governors in all 50 states, and to all the territories asking for input on revising the Clean Water Rule:  Definition of “Waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) by June 19th.  This action follows the February 28, 2017 Executive Order issued by President Trump on “Restoring the Rule of Law, Federalism, and Economic Growth by Reviewing the Waters of the United States Rule.”
To meet the objectives of the Executive Order, the Federal agencies are following a two-step process that will provide as much certainty as possible, as quickly as possible, to the regulated community and the public during the development of a replacement rule.  The first step will be to revise the Code of Federal Regulations to change the definition of “Waters of the United States” promulgated by the agencies in 2015.  The second step will be a public notice-and-comment rulemaking involving a substantive reevaluation and revision of the definition of “Waters of the U.S.” in accordance with the Executive Order. The letter sent to governors is seeking input on the second step of the process.
State drinking water programs may want to reach out to their Clean Water Act program counterparts for more insight on this effort and considerations for drinking water supplies.  The letter to the State of Iowa is attached for your reference.  For more information, view the EPA press release.  For questions, contact Donna Downing of EPA at 202-566-2428 or CWAwotus@epa.gov.
2a- WOTUS Letter