EPA, Corps Vow To Improve 404 Permitting Despite Stay Of 'Waters' Policy

摘要

EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers are vowing to work together on improving the Clean Water Act's (CWA) section 404 dredge-and-fill permit program, despite an appellate court's stay blocking the agencies from implementing their joint rulemaking to define which waters can be regulated by section 404 and other CWA programs. In a Nov. 16 joint memo to EPA and Army Corps of Engineers federal and regional officials, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and the Army Corps'Assistant Secretary for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy lay out plans to move forward with measures to improve implementation of the CWA section 404 program through greater "transparency" such as a new website listing 404 jurisdictional determinations, and improved coordination on permitting.