NaCo Preliminary Analysis of “Waters of the US” Rule
The National Association of Counties distributed the following on May 27, 2015:
After more than a year of voicing serious concerns and calling for clarity on the federal proposal to redefine “waters of the U.S.,” the National Association of Counties (NACo) has expressed disappointment that counties went unheard in the final rule that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) released on May 27.Despite having provided detailed feedback and congressional testimony on multiple occasions on the potential impact of the proposed rule on counties, and despite repeated attempts to have a meaningful consultation process with the federal agencies, many issues remain unresolved.
NACo Executive Director Matthew Chase said, “Counties support clean water and work every day to protect water resources. Even non-federal waters are protected by state and local regulations — sometimes even more strictly than federal rules. This is why it is so disconcerting that the federal agencies paid little heed to vast amounts of expertise from state and local leaders on the ground.
“From day one, this has been an issue of practicality — not politics — for us. As co-regulators of Clean Water Act provisions, counties are not just another stakeholder in this discussion. We will continue to work with county experts — county engineers, public works directors, stormwater managers and county legal staff — to analyze the final rule and its potential impacts on counties. NACo will also work with the federal agencies and Congress to address outstanding questions.”
After a preliminary review, there are several areas that are unclear and potentially problematic for counties.
Click here to view the chart NACo created, outlining key components of the current rule compared with the proposed rule and the final rule.
