Washington State
Water Resources
Association
Supporting
Washington's
Irrigation Districts document.write(TODAY); Executive Office: 606 Columbia Street NW, Suite 100, Olympia, WA 98501
Phone: 360-754-0756 ~ Fax: 360-586-4205 HOME 2006 WSWRA CALENDAR 2006 WSWRA CONFERENCE CONTACT US On August 1, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committees Fisheries, Wildlife and Water Sub-committee held a hearing on Rapanos v. U.S. , the 4-1-4 Supreme Court decision redefining the scope of federal jurisdiction over wetlands under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) have issued intermediate guidance to their field staff, instructing them to continue processing CWA '404 permits, but to temporarily delay making jurisdictional calls. EPA and the Corps are working on joint guidance clarifying CWA jurisdiction. While the Committee agrees that the failure to swiftly act to clarify the scope and meaning of the Rapanos decision will result in a costly quagmire of litigation, they disagree on whether or not Congress should clarify the scope of federal CWA jurisdiction, or whether the agencies should redefine the scope of their jurisdiction through a rulemaking. Legislation to clarify CWA jurisdiction (S. 912 and H.R. 1356), it is not currently Chairman James Inhofes (R-OK) top priority. | |
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