The Biden administration on Friday issued final rules restoring protections in place prior to 2015 under the federal Clean Water Act for streams, wetlands and other critical waterways. The measures, announced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. War Department, will strengthen the protection of drinking water sources as well as wetlands and water bodies critical to wildlife.
“When Congress passed the Clean Water Act 50 years ago, it recognized that protecting water is essential to ensuring healthy communities and thriving economies,” said EPA Administrator Michael. S. Regan said in a press release.. “Following extensive stakeholder engagement and building on what we have learned from previous regulations, EPA will continue to protect U.S. waters, enhance economic opportunity, and protect the health of our people while helping farmers, There is more certainty for ranchers and landlords.”
Rep. Buddy Carter, of the Georgia Coast constituency, opposes the new regulation.
“Restoring the Obama-era WOTUS rules will give Georgia farmers, small businesses, homeowners, local governments, and families the power of unelected bureaucrats to tell them how Peach State’s natural resources are used. It will revive a vague and disastrous world of regulation that doesn’t require a “policing,” Carter said in a press release issued by the Congressional Western Caucus, of which Republicans are members. There were clear and solid guidelines that should stay in the law across party lines.”
The Clean Water Act established federal jurisdiction over “navigable waters,” defined as “the waters of the United States.” Many Clean Water Act programs apply only to “waters of the United States,” but legislators have given the EPA and the Army the responsibility of defining “waters of the United States” in their regulations. The definition has been the focus of a series of high-profile lawsuits this century, with groups such as farmers, homebuilders and miners lobbying for deregulation while environmental groups oppose it.
Mining near Okefenokee
Friday’s final rule, which goes into effect about two months later, includes a controversial decision to exempt about 600 acres of wetlands that Alabama-based Twin Pines has proposed for an open-pit mining operation from federal oversight. Not applicable.
The site is about three miles from the closest point, the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, established to protect the Okefenokee Wetlands, one of the largest intact freshwater wetlands in the world. Conservation groups have protested the mining project since it was first proposed in 2019, saying it could disrupt the flow of water into and out of the wetlands. Twin Pines Minerals, which has no experience developing new mines, emphasizes the economic benefits to rural Charlton County, saying “mining activity will not impact the Okefenokee Wetlands.”
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Savannah Division determined in December 2018 and January 2020 that these wetlands in Charlton County are “under jurisdiction.” In other words, a permit based on the Clean Water Act was required. That was before the Trump administration’s rules took effect in late 2020.
After Trump’s Navigable Waters Protection Rule went into effect, the Savannah Corps will issue new decisions in October 2020 and March 2021 to remove protection from nearly 600 acres of wetlands at the Twin Pines mining site. Did.
The reversal of regulations announced on Friday already scrapped Trump’s rule following two federal court rulings in 2021, but it still won’t return protection to mining site wetlands. Southern Environmental Law Center.
“In the preamble to the rule, the agency emphasizes that jurisdictional determinations made under Trump administration rules that do not have ongoing licensing actions will not be reopened,” she said.
None of the Twin Pines site wetlands were considered a jurisdiction, so no wetland-related permits are in progress. Although the Trump-era regulation under which that decision was made has now been rescinded and labeled illegal, Moser said the jurisdiction’s decision stands.
“It’s a situation that we decided was ridiculous,” she said.
A spokeswoman for Twin Pines declined to comment, saying the changes to the WOTUS rule will not affect permit applications. The company now needs to get permission from the Georgia Department of Environmental Protection to proceed with the plan.
SELC litigation
For about two months last summer, the US Army Corps of Engineers seemed poised to reconsider whether the Twin Pines Wetlands had been properly evaluated.
In June, Assistant Army Undersecretary for Civil Works Michael L. Connor rescinded the previous approval after officials failed to consult with Muskogee Creek Nation, which claims historic ties to the land.Twin Pines initially suggested resuming the permitting process with Corps, but then sued the agency for being unfairly targeted. Corps, which he settled out of court in August, agreed to revert to its earlier decision that the project did not require federal approval.
SELC attended in November on behalf of the National Wildlife Conservation Society, the National Park Conservation Society, Wildlife Conservators and the Center for Biodiversity. These groups are suing the Corps of Engineers in federal court in the District of Columbia over decisions made without reason or explanation.
“It’s arbitrary and capricious, because officials[in June]explained why they were reversing Trump’s jurisdictional decision, and officials found Trump’s rule illegal,” Moser said. “And they still reinstated those jurisdictional decisions that removed the protection of nearly 600 acres of wetlands that would have had jurisdiction under every other administration’s rule.”
Moser said the new rules bolster her claims. They stress that Trump’s rule is illegal because it “undermines the Clean Water Act’s purpose of restoring and maintaining the integrity of the nation’s waters.”
The US Army Corps of Engineers has until January 23rd to respond to conservation group complaints.
