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Section 404 of the Clean Water Act

Further Revisions to the CWA Regulatory Definition of "Discharge of Dredged Material"

On April 16, 2001, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Todd Whitman endorsed the entry into force of the January 17, 2001, "Tulloch Rule," which revised the regulatory definition of "Discharge of Dredged Material." In accordance with the memorandum of January 20, 2001, from the Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff, entitled "Regulatory Review Plan," the effective date of this rule was temporarily delayed for 60 days, from February 16, 2001, to a new effective date of April 17, 2001. The delay of effective date was published in the Federal Register on February 16, 2001, at 66 FR 10367. Review of the Tulloch Rule was completed and it went into effect on April 17, 2001.


The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule to amend a Clean Water Act (CWA) section 404 regulation that defines the term "discharge of dredged material." This action conforms the Corps' and EPA's regulations to a court order invalidating the January 17, 2001, amendments to the regulatory definition (referred to as the "Tulloch II" rule). This final rule responds to the court decision by deleting language from the regulation that was invalidated.