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ARTICLE · 04 JULY 2023

Agencies Announce Intent To Issue Final WOTUS Rule By September 1st

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On June 26, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) announced their intent to amend the Biden administration's January 2023...

United StatesEnvironment
Rebecca Hays Barho
Rebecca Hays Barho
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On June 26, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) announced their intent to amend the Biden administration's January 2023 waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule and issue a new final rule by September 1, 2023 – without first publishing a proposed rule and seeking public comment. The new rule will update the January 2023 WOTUS rule to be consistent with the United States Supreme Court's holding in Sackett v. EPA and is intended to resolve current regulatory uncertainty regarding the federal government's jurisdiction over WOTUS of the Clean Water Act.

The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) provides limited exceptions from the usual rulemaking process – when the agency has "good cause" to find the usual proposed rulemaking notice and comment process would be "impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to public interest," the agency may skip this step and proceed to issuing a final rule. The agencies may take the

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