The two federal agencies that are to reviewing the definition of “waters of the United States,” often called WOTUS and a distinguishing characteristic under the Clean Water Act, have scheduled the first round of listening sessions for next week.
The Environmental Protection Agency and Department of the Army, which oversees the Army Corps of Engineers, are holding the public input meetings both virtually and at the EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C.
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EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced March 12 plans to revise the definition of WOTUS to align with the Supreme Court’s May 2023 decision in the Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency “while eliminating red tape, cutting compliance costs, and reducing the cost of living,” according to the agency. “To achieve this vision, the agencies will develop a proposed rule to revise the 2023 definition of WOTUS.”
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Participation in the session set for 9:30 a.m. to noon Tuesday, April 29, is limited to state government agencies and member organizations. The listening session for Tribes will be virtually held 1-3:30 p.m. April 30.
From 9:30 p.m. to noon Thursday, May 1, the input session is for industry and agricultural stakeholders and the 1 p.m. that is to follow is for environmental and conservation stakeholders. Registration is required and can be done on the EPA website.
EPA officials said that listening sessions for local governments and the public will be announced.
“The agencies are committed to obtaining targeted input from a full spectrum of co-regulators and stakeholders on key topic areas related to the definition of ‘waters of the United States’ in light of Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, regarding ‘continuous surface connection,’ ‘relatively permanent,’ and jurisdictional versus non-jurisdictional ditches,” according to the EPA.
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EPA’s Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for Water Peggy Brown and Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds Division Director Stacey Jensen will be joined by Milton Boyd, assistant counsel with the Corps for the sessions.
