Waters of the U.S. Update

On April 21st, NAHB Senior Vice President Susan Asmus sent a letter to the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on behalf of the association’s 140,00 members regarding the agencies’ new Waters of the United States proposal. In her letter, she asked for the comment period to be extended 90 days past the current July 21st deadline. You can read her letter online at

http://www.nahb.org/fileUpload_details.aspx?contentID=227427&fromGSA=1

Asmus cites the length and complexity of the proposal along with its dense accompanying set of data and legal opinions as the primary reasons for the extension. In addition, the NAHB is concerned about the proposal’s potential impact on permitting and the ambiguous nature of the regulations rolled out by the agencies.At the national level, there is a coalition of building and agriculture groups working in concert to at least extend the comment period and clarify the provisions of the proposal. There are upcoming Congressional hearings regarding Waters of the United States to address these concerns. BASE is also working with state legislators on potential action that could be taken here in North Carolina.

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