E&E NEWS: CLEAN WATER RULE: Trump admin finalizes WOTUS applicability date
U.S. EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers finalized a rule that would delay the effective date of the 2015 Clean Water Rule. “Today, EPA is taking action to reduce confusion and provide certainty to America’s farmers and ranchers,” EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said. “The 2015 WOTUS rule developed by the Obama administration will not be applicable for the next two years, while we work through the process of providing long-term regulatory certainty across all 50 states about what waters are subject to federal regulation.” The new applicability date will be two years from the rule’s listing in the Federal Register, EPA said. For most rules, it’s 30 to 60 days after publication depending on whether they are economically significant.
