The director of regulatory relations for American Farm Bureau says there’s a strong possibility the EPA’s Clean Water Rule, in its current form, will never be implemented.
Don Parrish says the rule commonly referred to as WOTUS does not clearly define how the public can come into compliance with the law.
“I think what you’ve already seen from the Supreme Court (is them) basically saying if (the EPA) is going to criminally and civilly enforce—civilly as in $37,500 per-day type penalties—if you’re going to enforce a law that carries those kinds of penalties, it has to be transparent.”
He says by staying the rule, the Supreme Court might be signaling that WOTUS is unconstitutional.
Regardless, Parrish believes the issue is far from over.
“I can tell you that the final rule is worse than the proposed rule, because in the proposed rule you actually could walk up and say ‘this is an actual stream.’ In the final rule, the federal government can say ‘we can find indicators that this used to be a stream.”
Currently, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has asserted jurisdiction in the case and has begun the process of hearing it.
Source: brownfieldagnews.com