Waters Advocacy Coalition (WAC) Statement on the Proposed New Water Rule

CONTACT: Amos Snead, Snead@S3PublicAffairs.com

Washington, DC — Today, the Waters Advocacy Coalition released the following statement after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of the Army announced the proposed new water rule:

“Today’s release of a new water rule is an encouraging next step in the decades-long push for a WOTUS definition that empowers communities to protect their own water resources while providing regulatory clarity for our nation’s farmers, ranchers, small businesses, and landowners,” said coalition spokesman Amos Snead. “While the courts stepped in and almost immediately halted implementation of the illegal 2015 WOTUS rule, the specter of such an onerous, overreaching federal regulation has weighed heavily on states, local governments, and the regulated community across the country.

“In fact, a majority of states across the country spoke out against the old WOTUS rule, saying it would have buried them in paperwork, strained state budgets and ultimately not made any improvements to efforts to maintain water quality. In contrast, today’s proposal takes a more balanced approach to protecting our nation’s waterways by promoting states’ ability to protect their water resources, laying out clear federal guidelines for surface water protection, and providing Americans long overdue regulatory certainty.

“The Waters Advocacy Coalition appreciates the efforts of the EPA and the Army Corps to solicit feedback prior to drafting this new proposal and applauds the agencies’ commitment to continued engagement with local communities and affected stakeholders to craft a workable WOTUS definition. We look forward to implementation of a commonsense new water rule that provides for clean water and clear rules.”

For more information, please visit https://watersadvocacy.org

Click here to download this press release in PDF format.

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