Trump Administration’s New Proposed WOTUS Rule Addresses Major Concerns of Home Builders
President Trump’s administration on Dec. 11 announced an anticipated proposed definition for “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) that clarifies the federal government’s authority under the Clean Water Act. Fulfilling a promise made to home builders, the proposed rule is the latest and most significant step in ending the perilous overreach of the 2015 Obama definition that needlessly drew man-made ditches, streams that only flow during rain events and even isolated ponds on private property into federal regulation.
The Trump Administration’s proposed definition excludes short-lived ponds, streams and tributaries that flow in response to rain events from federal regulation, while also excluding wetlands that are not directly connected to federally regulated bodies of water.
The new rule is open for public comments for 60 days. The Administration’s goal is to finalize the rule and implement it nationwide by the fall of 2019.
In 2017, President Trump signed the Executive Order entitled“Restoring the Rule of Law, Federalism and Economic Growth by Reviewing the‘Waters of the Unites States’ Rule. The EO began the process of repealing andreplacing the WOTUS rule. In that same year, EPA’s Administrator came to Texasto hear from builders and developers at a meeting hosted at the Dallas BuildersAssociation, where he got firsthand examples of the problems created by the2015 WOTUS rule.
Currently, Texas joins 27 other states that areallowed to remain under the 1986 regulation after a temporary injunction wasissued against the 2015 WOTUS rule by the U.S. District Court of Southern Texasin September.