On May 20, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public works held a hearing titled, “Oversight of the Environmental Protection Agency”. The hearing offered an opportunity for Committee Members to pose questions to Administrator Andrew Wheeler as well as hear from the Administrator about the work the agency has done to protect the air, water, and environment in the United States.

Prior to the hearing, the Waters Advocacy Coalition submitted a letter for inclusion in the record expressing the continued support of the revised definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) set forth in the recently finalized Navigable Water Protection Rule as well as the repeal of the 2015 WOTUS Rule:

The Navigable Waters Protection Rule strikes an appropriate balance between protecting waters and wetlands and providing clarity and predictability to stakeholders and regulators. Moreover, it is firmly grounded in the Clean Water Act’s (“CWA”) shared federal-state responsibility for water quality and relevant court precedents. WAC’s members look forward to working with the Agencies to address any challenges that arise during implementation of the new rule.

In his opening statement, Chairman Barraso (R-WY) touted the accomplishments of the Agency under the current administration, applauding its response to the coronavirus pandemic; conversely, Ranking Member Tom Carper (D-DE) pointed to the shortcomings of the Agency regarding rollbacks of regulation believed by some to cause more harm than good.

In his opening comments, Administrator Wheeler echoed the Chairman in his praise of the agency’s work to combat the COVID-19A (e.g. providing thousands of pieces of PPE to aid emergency and health professionals, issuing guidance to states and business regarding the enforcement of environmental laws when social distancing affects normal activities) before going on to list successes since mid-March including, the publication of the Navigable Waters Protection Rule.

In his written testimony, Administrator Wheeler underscored the importance of the new rule, “In January, EPA and Army Corps of Engineers finalized the Navigable Waters Protection Rule. This historic rule, decades in the making, delivers on the President’s promise to finalize a revised definition for ‘waters of the United States’ that is tethered to the Clean Water Act. The new rule will both protect navigable waters from pollution and foster economic growth by providing much needed certainty to the regulated community about where federal jurisdiction begins and ends.”

The EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers signed a final new rule on Jan. 23, 2020, which is set to take effect in 60 days from that date. GCSAA continues to monitor the fate of the Navigable Water Protection Rule. Several federal lawsuits have been filed in order to block the rule from going into effect.