By TONI ELLINGTON
The White House announced last week that President Obama will likely veto a bill being proposed by the House of Representatives which would restrict reinterpretation of the “Waters of the United States” definition under the Clean Water Act by the Army Corps of Engineers and the EPA.
The proposed bill, H.R. 1732, is called the Regulatory Integrity Protection Act of 2015. It was sponsored by Representative Bill Shuster, R-Pennsylvania. The bill would require the Secretary of the Army and the Administrator of the EPA to withdraw the proposed rule under the Clean Water Act which redefines the definition of “Waters of the United States” to include seasonal and rain-dependent streams and wetlands near rivers and streams, and would bring those areas under Army Corps of Engineers’ jurisdiction. The proposed rule was published at 79 Fed. Reg. 22188 on April 21, 2014.
Under the Regulatory Integrity Protection Act of 2015, the Secretary of the Army and the Administrator of the EPA would be required to develop a new proposed rule and definition of “Waters of the United States” which would take into account public comments and require an economic analysis of the proposed rule. The bill would also require the agencies to “jointly consult and solicit advice and recommendations from representative State and local officials, stakeholders, and other interested parties.
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