Call for City opposition to WOTUS!

"Waters of the United States"

Lake Oswego call to action!

This policy analysis from the National Association of Counties (NACO) is a great resource for defining and explaining the impacts of the proposed, expanded EPA rule that redefines the Waters of the United States (WOTUS, WOUS).  I am sure there are other such policy briefs out there that cover the same material from a different perspective, but this one is written in clear language.  Keep in mind that this is written with the needs of counties in mind and the consequences may, and probably will be different for local jurisdictions.  In any case, the expanded rule would make all state, county, and local government into regulators/enforcers of increased/intrusive federal regulation that would be extremely costly.  Lake Oswego should strongly oppose this rule!  

Please read:

• previous post on WOTUS and 
• the link to the EPA WOUS website, 
• the website included in this post, and 
• the upcoming letter from Clackamas County.  

Then ACT!  Send your comments to the EPA / Corps of Engineers opposing this rule.  Deadline for comments is November 14, 2014 !  Link for comments is on EPA WOUS page at lower left.

Send copies of your comments to ALL your elected representatives in Washington DC, the State DEQ and ALL state representatives including the Governor, and to your local governments, both county and city.

National Association of Counties

County Action Needed

New “Waters of the United States” Definition Released

Counties are strongly encouraged to submit written comments 

on potential impacts of the proposed regulation to the Federal Register.

On April 21, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) jointly released a new proposed rule – Definition of Waters of the U.S. Under the Clean Water Act – that would amend the definition of “waters of the U.S.” and expand the range of waters that fall under federal jurisdiction. The proposed rule, published in the Federal Register, is open for public comment until November 14, 2014.

Definition of “Waters of the United States” Under the Clean Water Act
Summary of Draft Regulation As Proposed by EPA and Corps