2021 "Waters of the United States" Public Meeting Materials
The final "Revised Definition of 'Waters of the United States'" rule was published in the Federal Register on January 18, 2023, and the rule took effect on March 20, 2023. On August 29, 2023, the agencies issued a final rule amending the Code of Federal Regulations to conform the January 2023 Rule’s definition of “waters of the United States” to the Supreme Court decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency. The conforming rule amends the provisions of the agencies’ definition of “waters of the United States” in the January 2023 Rule that are invalid under the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Clean Water Act in the Sackett decision. The conforming rule, “Revised Definition of ‘Waters of the United States’; Conforming,” became effective on September 8, 2023 upon publication in the Federal Register. Please visit the Rule Status page for additional information about the status of the rule and litigation. More information about the final rule is available here.
On July 30, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Army announced a schedule for initial public meetings to hear from interested stakeholders on their perspectives on defining "waters of the United States" and how to implement that definition as the agencies pursue this process. The public meetings were held as web conferences in August and September 2021.
Presentations
- August 18, 2021 Public Meeting Presentation (pdf)
- August 23, 2021 Public Meeting Presentation (pdf)
- August 25, 2021 Public Meeting Presentation (Small Entities) (pdf)
- August 26, 2021 Public Meeting Presentation (pdf)
- August 31, 2021 Public Meeting Presentation (pdf)
- September 2, 2021 Public Meeting Presentation (pdf)