With the publication of the final Clean Water Rule on jurisdiction of waters of the U.S. under the Clean Water Act Rule ECOS, ACWA, and ASWM welcome the opportunity for coordination and collaboration between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the states, the District of Columbia, and territories. The states raised a number of concerns about the proposed rule and provided extensive comments and recommendations for improvement.
Publication of the final rule provides the opportunity to review the changes to the Clean Water Act jurisdictional rule, review the extent to which state comments were incorporated into the final rule, and to engage in discussions with EPA and the Corps to understand the provisions of the rule.
States have many laws that protect waters and wetlands, and implementing the Clean Water Act is a fundamental responsibility of states. States have long supported early, meaningful, and substantial state involvement in the development and implementation of environmental statutes and related rules. ECOS, ACWA, and ASWM look forward to full engagement between EPA, the Corps, and the states as coregulators in implementing the Clean Water Rule.
ACWA_ECOS_ASWM_pr_cwr_may272015
