Extension of Comment Period for the Definition of “Waters of the United States” – Recodification of Pre-existing Rules
The final "Revised Definition of 'Waters of the United States'" rule was published in the Federal Register on January 18, 2023, and the rule took effect on March 20, 2023. On August 29, 2023, the agencies issued a final rule amending the Code of Federal Regulations to conform the January 2023 Rule’s definition of “waters of the United States” to the Supreme Court decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency. The conforming rule amends the provisions of the agencies’ definition of “waters of the United States” in the January 2023 Rule that are invalid under the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Clean Water Act in the Sackett decision. The conforming rule, "Revised Definition of 'Waters of the United States'; Conforming," published in the Federal Register and became effective on September 8, 2023. Please visit the Rule Status page for additional information about the status of the January 2023 Rule, as amended, and litigation. The information listed below is provided for informational purposes and is related to the 2019 Repeal Rule, and not with the January 2023 rule or with the conforming rule.
The public comment period closed on September 27, 2017. Comments are posted in the docket. The agencies published a final rule on October 22, 2019.
EPA and the Army extended the comment period by 30 days for the proposed first step of the review of the definition of "waters of the United States" to provide additional time for stakeholders to weigh in.
Background
The comment period, as extended, closed on September 27, 2017. The proposed rule was signed by the. Administrator and Mr. Douglas Lamont, senior official performing the duties of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, and posted to EPA’s website on June 27th and published in the Federal Register on July 27th. When finalized, the proposed rule would replace the 2015 Clean Water Rule with the regulations that were in effect immediately preceding the 2015 rule. The public can submit comments, identified by Docket Id. EPA-HQ-2017-0203, at regulations.gov.
Federal Register Notice
On August 16, 2017, the EPA Acting Assistant Administrator for Water, Michael Shapiro, along with Mr. Douglas Lamont, senior official performing the duties of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, signed the Federal Register notice extending the public comment period, which published on August 22, 2017.