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 Environment & Public Works (EPW) Committee’s Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife held a legislative hearing for the Federal Water Quality Protection Act, which is the Senate’s version of AGC-supported legislation that recently passed the House. Witnesses from state and local government, businesses and the legal profession were on hand to discuss the implications of the proposed rule and comment on the legislation pending before the Committee. The EPW Committee plans to mark up this legislation shortly after the Memorial Day recess.
The Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship also held a hearing titled, “An Examination of Proposed Environmental Regulation’s Impacts on America’s Small Businesses.” The first panel consisted of the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy, the independent agency within the SBA designed to represent small businesses to other agencies in the rulemaking process. The Office of Advocacy recently concluded that EPA and the Corps improperly skipped small business consultation and should withdraw the rulemaking.
AGC will continue to push for support for the Federal Water Quality Protection Act and will monitor further progress on this issue in the Senate.
For more information, please contact Scott Berry at berrys@agc.org or (703) 837-5321. Return to Top