Thank you for submitting comments to the EPA to repeal the WOTUS rule.
Overview
The Trump Administration has proposed and is seeking comments on a rulemaking that rescinds the waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule issued in August 2015, and in its place the proposal would codify the prior rulemakings that were adopted in the late 1980’s.
This is the first step of a comprehensive two-step process, whereby the 2015 rule is rescinded under the first and the second being a rulemaking in late 2017 or early 2018 that creates a new WOTUS definition.
The Administration is seeking and will respond to comments on a narrow question; “…whether it is desirable and appropriate to re-codify in regulation the status quo as an interim first step pending a substantive rulemaking to reconsider the definition of “waters of the United States” and the best way to accomplish it.” The public may submit comments on any related WOTUS matters, but the agency will only respond in the record to those comments that relate to this question.
The 2015 WOTUS Rule has:
- Created a huge regulatory burden for farmers, ranchers, and others who depend on their ability to work the land;
- Increased costs for farmers and ranchers;
- Produced confusion and uncertainty in economically challenging times.
A federal district court has halted the implementation of the 2015 WOTUS rule, but those court orders are only temporary. EPA’s current proposal would eliminate the 2015 WOTUS rule permanently, while the agency goes back to the drawing board to develop a WOTUS definition that protects water quality without asserting federal regulatory power over puddles in farm fields.
Many environmental activists desperately want to preserve the original WOTUS rule. We need your voice and the voice of rural America to contact the EPA to bring back a sense of reason.
For more information, see Sept. 27 news article
