Strong Bipartisan U.S. House Majority Votes To Scrap Current Waters Of The U.S. Proposal

Last week, the U.S. House passed H.R. 1732, the Regulatory Integrity Protection Act, which would require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue a new version of its Waters of the U.S. rule. As the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) explained, EPA’s current proposed rule would increase uncertainty and “significantly expand the definition of ‘waters of the United States.’” NAM said, “As a result, water that has traditionally been regulated by state and local governments would now be regulated by the federal government.” Also according to NAM, H.R. 1732 would:

• Provide manufacturers with a process that is transparent;
• Force EPA to fix the many flawed definitions and interpretations of “waters of the United States” before re-proposing the rule;
• Ensure that state and local governments, stakeholders, and interested parties are consulted in drafting the new rule, providing manufacturers with the opportunity to work closely with the agencies to make them aware of our concerns and problems with any regulations moving forward.

Click here to see how your representative voted on this issue. It is unclear yet if and when the U.S. Senate will consider similar legislation.