Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry President and CEO Gene Barr issued a statement Tuesday praising the replacement of the “Waters of the United States” rule proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of the Army (Army).
The proposal would replace the Obama EPA’s 2015 definition of “waters of the United States” and clarifies federal authority under the Clean Water Act.
“As we noted in our comments to the Environmental Protection Agency in 2014, the ‘Waters of the United States’ rule would have significantly expanded federal jurisdiction to waters already being sufficiently protected by Pennsylvania’s water quality rules,” Barr said. “This would have resulted in not only saddling businesses with additional confusion over what requirements apply but the potential for significant civil penalties stemming from that lack of clarity. That rule would have cost the United States’ economic gain for the sake of negligible environmental benefits.”
The proposal is consistent with President Trump’s February 2017 Executive Order entitled “Restoring the Rule of Law, Federalism, and Economic Growth by Reviewing the ‘Waters of the United States’ Rule.”
Under the agencies’ proposed definition, traditional navigable waters, tributaries to those waters, certain ditches, certain lakes and ponds, impoundments of jurisdictional waters and wetlands adjacent to jurisdictional waters would be federally regulated. Features that only contain water during or in response to rainfall; groundwater; many ditches, including most roadside or farm ditches; prior converted cropland; stormwater control features; and waste treatment systems would not be considered “waters of the United States.”
“We are pleased to see the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers move forward with a rulemaking process that will result in the development of a durable, workable rule that provides certainty to industry and protection to the environment,” Barr said.
The agencies will take comment on the proposal for 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.