What Happened
On April 21, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR) in the Federal Register, with a scheduled implementation date of June 22, 2020.
Read more in the full Regulatory Alert.
Why It Matters
Much of the agencies’ policy for interpreting the details of NWPR is currently unknown. Additionally, the NWPR is expected to face similar legal challenges as other rules on the definition of waters of the U.S., some of which were subject to multiple years of delayed implementation as a result of court orders.
SWCA Lens
SWCA is tracking this rule and related developments. If you have any questions for how the NWPR may apply to one of your projects, please reach out to your primary SWCA contact.
What to Watch
SWCA expects that over the course of the coming weeks and months, there will be developing clarity regarding the rule’s likelihood for implementation as scheduled and how the USACE will interpret the NWPR once it replaces the existing regulations.
