The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers published the revised Waters of the U.S. rule (WOTUS) in the Federal Register Wednesday. The publication means the revised rule will go into effect on March 20, 2023. EPA and the Army Corps announced the rule at the end of 2022, which will replace the Navigable Waters Protection Rule.
At the time, American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall commented, “EPA has doubled down on the old significant nexus test, creating more complicated regulations that will impose a quagmire of regulatory uncertainty.”
The rule comes as agriculture awaits a Supreme Court decision in the Sacketts vs. EPA case, which could send WOTUS back to the drawing board. However, the Sackett case is not focused on the new rule.
AFBF General Counsel Travis Cushman says, “you would probably need to have a new challenge to that rule,” based on the Sackett Supreme Court decision.
(From the National Association of Farm Broadcasters)