August 29, 2017
By:
Walter G. Wright
Category:
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
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The United States Environmental Protection Agency and Corps of Engineers (collectively, “EPA”) announced in the August 28th Federal Register that it will hold 10 teleconferences to:
. . . hear from stakeholders their recommendations to revise the definition of “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act. . .
See 82 Fed. Reg. 40742.
The teleconferences are related to an Executive Order previously issued which is requiring a review of the Clean Water Act definition “waters of the United States.” The agencies state they are implementing the Executive Order in two steps. They previously proposed on July 27th a rule to re-codify the regulation that was in place prior to the issuance of the revision to the definition. A second step will involve proposal of a new definition that would replace the approach in the prior revisions during the Obama Administration which were issued in 2015.
EPA states that nine of the teleconferences will be tailored to a specific sector which will include:
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Agriculture (row crop, livestock, silviculture)
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Conservation (hunters and anglers)
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Small entities (small businesses, small organizations, small jurisdictions)
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Construction and transportation
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Environment and public advocacy (including health and environmental justice)
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Mining
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Industry (energy, chemical, oil/gas)
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Scientific organizations and academia
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Stormwater/wastewater management/drinking water agencies
A tenth teleconference will be open to the general public.
The hearings will begin in September and the full schedule is outlined in the attached Federal Register Notice.
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