Finally! EPA And The Corps Issue Final Waters Of The US Rule

On May 27, 2015, after many years of regulatory uncertainty, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") and the U.S. Army Corps ("Corps") released a final rule defining the scope of "Waters of the United States" under the Clean Water Act. The Rule aims to "clarify" the reach of the federal government's authority under the Clean Water Act, including every section and program under the Act. Its implications are far reaching to industry, home builders, farmers, ranchers, and other landowners.

EPA and the Corps received over 1 million comments in this highly controversial rulemaking, and Congress is debating whether to require the agencies to withdraw the Rule entirely. The most controversial elements of the Rule involve the government's authority to regulate ditches, ephemeral and intermittent streams, dry arroyos in the arid West, and geographically isolated wetlands. Opponents of the rule argue that the Rule is unconstitutional and exceeds the agencies'