Environmentalists Warn Of 'Legal Vacuum' If EPA Enacts CWA Rule Delay

摘要

Environmentalists are warning EPA that its plan to delay by two years implementation of the 2015 Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction rule is unlawful and technically flawed, and will create a "legal vacuum" because it would have the unintended effect of barring regulators from using any EPA rule or guidance to determine the law's scope. The groups say that the proposed delay rule, which the agency and Army Corps of Engineers took comment on through Dec. 13, would create legal confusion by leaving the 2015 rule - which replaced prior 2008 j urisdiction regulation and guidance - in place even though regulators could not enforce it until two years from issuance of a final delay rule. As a result, environmentalists argue, permit writers would not be able to legally rely on agency CWA rules or guidance on jurisdiction.