Pre-Proposal Outreach and Pre-Proposal Written Recommendations
Pre-Proposal Outreach and Consultation (concluded)
Public Meetings - The agencies held public meetings in Fall 2017 to hear from stakeholders their recommendations to revise the definition of “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act (CWA). More information about these meetings, including a complete schedule and the Federal Register notice, can be found at EPA's Pre-Proposal Outreach Meetings webpage.
Written Recommendations - The agencies established an administrative docket to solicit pre-proposal recommendations for the Step 2 rulemaking to define “waters of the United States.” The docket closed on November 28, 2017. Written recommendations can be found here in the docket.
Federalism and Tribal Consultation - In Spring 2017, EPA, in coordination with the Department of the Army, initiated formal consultations to solicit comments from state, local, and tribal governments regarding such a new definition. The agencies held a series of meetings with various groups as part of the consultation processes and have posted for public review each of the letters received as part of the consultation processes. Summaries of issues raised during tribal and federalism consultation are available here in the docket.
- Federalism Consultation - Consistent with E.O. 13132, Federalism, the EPA, Department of Army, and the Army Corps of Engineers consulted with state and local government officials, or their representative national organization, while developing a revised definition of “waters of the United States.”
- Tribal Consultation - Consistent with the EPA Policy on Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribes, the EPA consulted with Federally recognized Indian tribes while developing a revised definition of “waters of the United States.” Department of Army and the Army Corps of Engineers participated in the consultation and coordination.
Public Comment - Navigable Waters Protection Rule (Step Two)
On December 11, 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Army (the agencies) proposed a revised definition of “waters of the United States” that clarifies the scope of federal authority under the Clean Water Act. The proposed rule published in the Federal Register on February 14, 2019 and was open for a 60-day public comment period. The public comment period closed on April 15, 2019. Comments were posted to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2018-0149 and can be found here .