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In April 2020, the EPA and the Department of the Army (the agencies) published the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR) that revised the previously codified definition of "waters of the United States” (85 FR 22250, April 21, 2020). The agencies are now initiating this new rulemaking process that restores the regulations in place prior to the 2015 "Clean Water Rule: Definition of 'Waters of the United States’” (80 FR 37054, June 29, 2015), updated to be consistent with relevant Supreme Court decisions. The agencies intend to consider further revisions in a second rule in light of additional stakeholder engagement and implementation considerations, scientific developments, and environmental justice values. This effort will also be informed by the experience of implementing the pre-2015 rule, the 2015 Clean Water Rule, and the 2020 Navigable Waters Protection Rule.

Statement of Need:

In 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Army ("the agencies") published the "Clean Water Rule: Definition of 'Waters of the United States’" (80 FR 37054, June 29, 2015). In April 2020, the agencies published the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (85 FR 22250, April 21, 2020).  The agencies conducted a substantive re-evaluation of the definition of "waters of the United States" in accordance with the Executive Order 13990 and determined that they need to revise the definition to ensure the agencies listen to the science, protect the environment, ensure access to clean water, consider how climate change resiliency may be affected by the definition of waters of the United States, and to ensure environmental justice is prioritized in the rulemaking process.

Summary of the Legal Basis:

The Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.).

Alternatives:

To be determined.

Anticipated Costs and Benefits:

To be determined.

Risks:

To be determined.