‘Waters of the U.S.’ bill heads to
House floor
By Julie Ufner
ASSOCIATE LEGISLATIVE
DIRECTOR
A bill that would require the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to withdraw the
proposed Waters of the U.S. rule within 30 days and to rewrite a new proposed
rule after consultation with state and local governments is headed for the
House floor within the next several weeks. The House Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure (T&I) passed the Regulatory Integrity Protection Act of
2015 (H.R. 1732) April 15.
H.R. 1732 would require the agencies to document where consensus
was reached with state and local governments and where it wasn’t reached, and
how the agencies addressed those concerns.
The measure currently has 55 co-sponsors. NACo sent a letter to
T&I Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) and Ranking Member Peter
DeFazio (D-Ore.) in support of the Regulatory Integrity Protection Act.
In April 2014, the EPA and the Corps jointly released a new
proposed rule that would amend the definition of Waters of the U.S. within the
Clean Water Act and dramatically expand the range of public safety
infrastructure that falls under federal permitting authority. Since its
publication, NACo has expressed concerns about the scope of the proposed rule
and called for it to be withdrawn until further analysis and more in-depth
consultation with state and local officials could be completed.
A bipartisan Senate bill that also urges the EPA and Corps to
restart the Waters of the U.S. rulemaking process was introduced April 30.
The
Waters of the U.S. rule is expected to be finalized within the next several
months.
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