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EPA, Army Corps finalize delay of Clean Water Rule

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EPA, Army Corps finalize delay of Clean Water Rule

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have finalized a proposal to delay the implementation date of the Clean Water Rule by two years. In doing so, they clarified when the waters of the U.S. will be defined by the Obama-era rule, if that is to happen at all.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt in a release issued Jan. 31 said the move is an effort to "reduce confusion and provide certainty to America's farmers and ranchers."

Often referred to as the Waters of the U.S., or WOTUS, rule, the Clean Water Rule was issued by the Obama administration in 2015. That rule did not establish any specific regulatory requirements but instead defined the waters of the U.S. that are subject to federal regulation. The rule was maligned by coal-industry stakeholders as well as representatives from other sectors of the economy, such as ranching and manufacturing, who said it was overly prescriptive and burdensome.

The Trump administration has moved to rescind the rule and redefine the waters of the U.S., and Pruitt previously suggested that the new definition would be issued in the first quarter of 2018. But on Jan. 22, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that legal challenges to the original rule belonged in the federal district courts rather than the federal appeals courts. The seemingly subtle distinction means that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit likely will lift a nationwide stay of the rule, thereby potentially freeing the Obama administration's definition to go into effect while the EPA and Army Corps work on the replacement rule.

But because Pruitt and the Army Corps anticipated the possibility that the stay would be lifted, they proposed to delay the Clean Water Rule's implementation date. Now, the agencies have finalized that delay, setting the implementation date for two years from when the action appears in the Federal Register.

Environmental groups swiftly promised to fight the delay and defend the Obama administrations definition of the waters of the U.S.

"We will fight this despicable action today with all the resources we have and continue to fight for clean water protections across America," said Dalal Aboulhosn, the Sierra Club's deputy legislative director for land and water. The Natural Resources Defense Council issued a news release similarly pledging to challenge the action in court.