Information provided by the Association of Government Relations Professionals.

The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Wednesday approved a bill that would require EPA to withdraw the final Waters of the U.S (WOTUS) rule and reissue a revised rule. The bill, S. 1140, was approved on a party line vote of 11-9.

The American Soybean Association (ASA) last week called on Congress to take legislative action to prevent the Clean Water Rule from taking effect. ASA specifically cited the nexus test as exceeding both the intent of Congress and the rulings of the Supreme Court. The House of Representatives passed HR 1732, the Regulatory Integrity Protection Act of 2015, on May 12.

S. 1140 addresses this concern and ensures protection of water for communities across the country, directing the agencies to issue a revised proposal that adheres to the following principles:

1. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act is an Act to protect traditional navigable waters from water pollution.

2. Waters of the U.S. under that Act should include:

• Traditional navigable waters and interstate waters.
• Streams identified on maps at the scale used by EPA to identify potential sources of drinking water.
• Streams with enough flow to carry pollutants to a navigable water, based on a quantifiable and statistically valid measure of flow for that geographic area, and
• Wetlands situated next to a water of the United States that protect water quality by preventing the movement of pollutants to navigable water.
• Areas unlawfully filled without a required permit.

3. Waters of the U.S. should not include:

• Water that is located below the surface of the land, including soil water and groundwater.
• Water that is not located within a body of water (e.g., river, stream, lake, pond, wetland), including channels that have no bed, bank or ordinary high water mark or surface hydrologic connection to traditional navigable waters.
• Isolated ponds.
• Stormwater and floodwater management systems.
• Wastewater management systems.
• Municipal and industrial water supply management systems.
• Agricultural water management systems.
• Streams that do not have enough flow to carry pollutants to navigable waters.
• Prior converted cropland.
• Areas lawfully filled pursuant to a permit or areas exempt from permitting.

Click here to read S. 1140 and learn more.

On May 27, the EPA released the Waters of the U.S. Final Rule under the Clean Water Act (CWA). It becomes effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. EPA maintains they have addressed many concerns aired in the 1 million+ comments received on their earlier proposed rule.