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.
In a practical sense, this means the final rule’s publication is due soon. Now that the rule has moved to OIRA, OMB staff are able to meet officially with industry representatives on the topic of the rulemaking, which AGC and its industry allies in the Waters Advocacy Coalition plan to do in the near future. This comes also as OIRA is in the midst of its review of the final Water Quality Standards rule which AGC and others warned OMB about recently.
AGC will continue to work with industry allies to educate the appropriate officials, work to block the issuance of the rule legislatively, remain watchful for publication of the final rule, and educate its members when the rule is finalized.
For more information, please contact Scott Berry at berrys@agc.org or Leah Pilconis at pilconisl@agc.org. Return to Top