POLITICO PRO: EPA Punts WOTUS Rewrite to 2019
EPA is pushing back its timeline for rewriting the Obama administration’s controversial water rule by several months, with a final version now not expected until September 2019.
Administrator Scott Pruitt has promised that a proposed version of the rule, which would narrow the definition of which streams and wetlands are protected under the Clean Water Act, would come out this month. But according to the White House’s new Unified Agenda, a proposed Waters of the U.S. rule isn’t expected until August, pushing back the final version.
Last month, Pruitt told the House Energy and Commerce Committee that the administration’s work on the issue — including both the repeal and the rewrite — would be done by the end of the year.
The agenda also indicates that a supplement to the agency’s proposal to repeal the Obama administration rule, which is currently being reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget, will come out this month. That rule is then due to be finalized in November, according to the agenda.
WHAT’S NEXT: EPA says a supplement to its proposal to rescind the controversial Obama administration Waters of the U.S. rule will come out this month
