POTUS Orders Review of WOTUS Rule
In yesterday’s edition of Lion News, we discussed two EPA regulations that may face legal challenges in 2017. Hours later, the President took action on one of those rules, signing an executive order to require the new Administrator of the EPA to review the Final Rule “Definition of Waters of the United States,” or “WOTUS Rule.”
Read the full Executive Order here.
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In addition to requiring a review of the WOTUS Final Rule, which is already the subject of a court battle, Section 3 of the Executive Order requires EPA to interpret the term “navigable waters” in a manner consistent with the opinion of Antonin Scalia in Rapanos v. United States.
In his opinion on Rapanos v. United States, Justice Scalia referenced a Supreme Court case from 1870, The Daniel Ball, in which the court interpreted “navigable waters” to mean those waters that are “navigable in fact, or susceptible to being rendered so.”
When it created the WOTUS Rule, EPA based its interpretation of “navigable waters” on Justice Kennedy’s concurring statement in the Rapanos case, which provides for a more broad interpretation than Scalia’s opinion on the case.
For more information on major Supreme Court cases that informed EPA’s interpretation of “navigable waters” and the “Waters of the United States,” read:
EPA Jurisdiction—Sackett v. EPA
Post-Rapanos Guidance from EPA and Army Corps of Engineers
Major topics covered in the new online course include:
Clean Air Act Regulations Online
TSCA Regulations Online
Clean Water Act & SDWA Regulations Online
New! Superfund and Right-to-Know Act Regulations Online
Read the full Executive Order here.
In his opinion on Rapanos v. United States, Justice Scalia referenced a Supreme Court case from 1870, The Daniel Ball, in which the court interpreted “navigable waters” to mean those waters that are “navigable in fact, or susceptible to being rendered so.”
When it created the WOTUS Rule, EPA based its interpretation of “navigable waters” on Justice Kennedy’s concurring statement in the Rapanos case, which provides for a more broad interpretation than Scalia’s opinion on the case.
For more information on major Supreme Court cases that informed EPA’s interpretation of “navigable waters” and the “Waters of the United States,” read:
EPA Jurisdiction—Sackett v. EPA
Post-Rapanos Guidance from EPA and Army Corps of Engineers
New Clean Water Act Training - Online 24/7
New for 2017! The Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act Regulations Online Course i will help you build a full understanding of the EPA’s major water regulations and how they affect your operations.Major topics covered in the new online course include:
- NPDES permit and control requirements
- SPCC plan basics and EPA reporting obligations
- US EPA pretreatment standards
- EPA’s Underground Injection Control (UIC) program
- Water quality standards for public systems and MCLs
Clean Air Act Regulations Online
TSCA Regulations Online
Clean Water Act & SDWA Regulations Online
New! Superfund and Right-to-Know Act Regulations Online
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