A summary of recent activity on the Biden Administration’s WOTUS Rule

In the last days of the 117th Congress, the House of Representatives and the Senate passed – and the President signed - an omnibus appropriations bill for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2023.

Today (December 30), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) released the final “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) Rule. Unfortunately, this represents another missed opportunity to provide a clear definition of those waters under federal jurisdiction and thus subject to federal water permitting requirements.

Here’s what we know so far about the 2022 midterms: Democrats have retained control of the Senate by a 50-49 vote margin.

Bob Helland, GCSAA director of congressional & federal affairs, spoke at the National Links Trust Symposium on Municipal Golf in Washington, D.C.

Voting is one of the most important rights and responsibilities we have as U.S. citizens

This month provided two opportunities for golf to respond to the latest attempt by federal agencies to define waters of the United States (“WOTUS”) under the Clean Water Act.

DHS, in consultation with the Department of Labor, announced that it will be issuing a regulation that will make available to employers an additional 64,716 H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker visas for fiscal year 2023.

Newsom's veto is welcomed and a positive outcome on an issue GCSAA has worked on throughout the 2022 legislative session.

It’s 42 days till Election Day on Tuesday, November 8th

The recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act (Act) provides tax credits to support the purchase and use of electric and fuel cell vehicles.

GCSAA participated in the RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment) annual meeting Aug, 22-24 in Greensboro, Ga.

President Biden has signed into law the “Inflation Reduction Act", which includes language that could help drought mitigation projects undertaken by golf.

GCSAA Government Affairs Director Chava McKeel provided a government affairs update at the NGCOA Top Agronomic Officers annual meeting in July.

GCSAA provides a few quick updates on legal activity regarding glyphosate, which occurred during the month of June.

While waiting for the Biden Administration to announce the replacement to NWPR, Congress has not been quiet.

The U.S. Solicitor General submitted a brief advising the U.S. Supreme Court ato not to take up a case regarding glyphosate cancer claims.

Reps. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-20) and Jim Baird (R-IN-3) have introduced legislation protecting the production and availability of plant biostimulants.

The Departments of Homeland Security and Labor have announced the availability of 35,000 additional visas for workers needed between April 1 and Sept. 30, 2022.

During National Golf Day week last week, more than 500 individuals in golf participated in National Golf Day activities.