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EPA Takes Steps to Repeal WOTUS

May 04, 2017

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent a proposal to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) this week to repeal the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule, in accordance with President Trump’s Executive Order to repeal and replace the rule.

The agencies are working to implement the executive order in a two-step process. According to a PowerPoint used in an EPA’s Federalism Consultation Meeting on order this includes:

  1. “The agencies are taking action to establish the legal status quo in the Code of Federal Regulations, by recodifying the regulation that was in place prior to issuance of the Clean Water Rule and that is being implemented now under the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit’s stay of that rule.
  2. The agencies plan to propose a new definition that would replace the approach in the 2015 Clean Water Rule with one that reflects the principles that Justice Scalia outlined in the Rapanos plurality opinion.”

The EPA is consulting with state and local officials to propose a new rule that is consistent with the executive order. They are asking for comments from state and local governments to develop a new definition of WOTUS by June 19, 2017.