The Biden administration should offer more time for public input into its plans to rewrite the federal rule defining Waters of the United States (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act, according to U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO), ranking member of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
A Federal Register Notice published on Aug. 4 announced plans by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to host public meetings regarding revision of the WOTUS definition, according to an Aug. 25 letter Rep. Graves and U.S. Rep. David Rouzer (R-NC) sent to EPA Administrator Michael Regan and Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Jaime Pinkham.
The notice announced dates and times to hold four public meetings, with the potential to “reserve a time for an additional meeting that will be added in case all speaking slots are filled in earlier meetings,” according to their letter, with all four meetings scheduled to take place this month.
“The decision to host meetings within such a short time frame on a wide range of topics is indicative of a rushed, insincere notice-and-comment process by this administration,” wrote Sen. Graves and his colleague. “A mere single month of public meetings is a woefully insufficient amount of time to collect meaningful input on a regulation that will have a profound, long-term impact on the everyday lives of American farmers, businesses, families, and our environment.”
Given the adverse impacts previously seen with overly broad interpretations, such as the Obama administration’s WOTUS rule, the lawmakers noted that it is essential the agencies administer a comprehensive process to solicit public feedback on the scope of the Clean Water Act jurisdiction when initiating a new rulemaking process.
“We urge the agencies to extend their public meeting schedule to ensure substantial public feedback and stakeholder input is collected,” Rep. Graves and his colleague wrote. “Therefore, we request the agencies to provide a 60-day extension of the current 30-day comment period to provide stakeholders with adequate time to develop and submit written recommendations on the definition and implementation of a revised WOTUS rule, as has been offered by previous administrations.”