Fearing High Court Ruling, EPA Proposes Two-Year Delay For CWA Rule

摘要

EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers are proposing to retroactively delay the 2015 Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction rule's effective date into 2019 or beyond, in order to avoid having to apply the Obama-era policy they are seeking to repeal, if a Supreme Court ruling dissolves a nationwide stay blocking the rule's implementation. Under a proposed rule posted online Nov. 16 ahead of publication in the Federal Register, the 2015 regulation would not take effect for another two years, beginning on the day a final version of the delay rule is enacted. The Obama administration's jurisdiction standard originally took effect on Aug. 28,2015, but was stayed immediately in 13 states by a federal district court in North Dakota, and nationwide weeks later by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. The proposed rule is available on InsideEPA.com.