Two different Senate committees held hearings examining the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) pending ruleredefining federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act. Both examined the impending regulation through different lenses to highlight the impact on the regulated community.

The House approved a measure to rescind the administration’s controversial proposed rule redefining “Waters of the U.S.” By a vote of 261-155, the House passed H.R. 1732, which would require EPA and the Corps to withdraw the regulatory proposal within 30 days and then set up a consultation process with state and local stakeholders as well as industry and small businesses in an effort to craft a new, better rule.

Action Needed Now: House Vote as Early as Tomorrow, Rule Expected to be Finalized Soon

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) are close to finalizing their proposed rule redefining "waters of the U.S." and making many more areas subject to federal control. More federal control would require nearly all construction sites to obtain often unnecessary Clean Water Act permits. The vast majority of new areas covered by these rules are currently protected by state and local governments so any increase to overall water quality are questionable.

By a vote of 36-22, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved legislation that would send the administration’s proposed rule redefining federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act back to the drawing board.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) joint rulemaking redefining which waters are jurisdictional under federal Clean Water Act standards has left the agency and moved to the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Office of information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). This is the last stage in the federal rulemaking process where OIRA runs the final rule through interagency review one last time before allowing the rule to be published as final.

AGC and its industry partners from the Waters Advocacy Coalition met with the Office of Management & Budget (OMB) to discuss the federal water quality standards (WQS) regulation proposed by EPA and its interaction with the proposed change in the definition of “Waters of the United States.”

After a concerted advocacy effort by AGC and its members, a bipartisan group of 85 members of the House of Representatives this week sent an AGC-supported letter urging appropriators to utilize Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) revenues at the levels set by the Water Resources Reform & Development Act of 2014 (WRRDA). WRRDA authorizes Congress to spend up to $1.25 billion—69 percent of HMTF revenues—on harbor maintenance activities in fiscal year (FY) 2016. However, the House Appropriations Committee must agree to actually spend that level of funding in FY 2016 for the promise in WRRDA to be realized.

This week, AGC sent a letter urging all members of the House of Representatives to sign an AGC-supported letter authored by Representatives Charles Boustany (R-La.) and Janice Hahn (D-Calif.) urging appropriators to utilize Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) revenues at the levels set by the Water Resources Reform & Development Act of 2014 (WRRDA). WRRDA authorizes Congress to spend up to $1.25 billion—69 percent of HMTF revenues—on harbor maintenance activities in fiscal year (FY) 2016. However, the House Appropriations Committee must agree to actually spend that level of funding in FY 2016 for the promise in WRRDA to be realized. As such, AGC urges you to take action and urge your representative to sign onto the Boustany/Hahn letter to the House Appropriations Committee asking appropriators to spend HMTF revenues at the FY 2016 WRRDA levels.

If you’re interested in any aspect of environmental compliance or sustainability on a construction jobsite, this is the conference for you. Learn from industry experts and your peers at AGC’s 2015 Contractors Environmental Conference on September 2-3 in Arlington, Virginia. It’s only six weeks away, so click here to reserve your spot today.