Civil Engineers face changes to Stream and Wetland Regulations?

Impacts to streams and wetlands can be a serious regulatory challenge to civil engineers and other land development professionals, not only in Knoxville, but around the country. There have been recent court cases challenging EPA’s authority, with the result being a potential clarification of the term “waters of the United States”.

The EPA took a giant step toward finally defining which bodies of water are subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act last week, when it filed a draft rule with the White House regulatory czar designed to settle the confusion created in recent years by a series of court decisions.

The legal battles have centered on the definition and scope of a seemingly innocuous phrase — what exactly are “waters of the United States”?

Judges and regulators have wrestled over how to interpret the term in the absence of legislative action to clarify it. Now, the EPA is not only proposing a regulatory solution — which is not yet publicly available — but is also conducting a scientific review to accumulate evidence to back up the penultimate rule.

See more at: http://cdn.rollcall.com/news/epa_seeks_definition_of_bodies_of_water_for_clean_water_act-227853-1.html?popular=true&pos=oplyh&cdn_load=true&zkPrintable=1&nopagination=1

If you have any questions about local stream and wetland regulations, contact LandTech’s civil engineering staff for a discussion about your project. You can find our contact information on our website here: http://landtechco.com/home