Analysis: Uncertainty Surrounding WOTUS Likely to Continue

OMA Connections Partner Dinsmore has published its analysis regarding the uncertainty surrounding “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the federal Clean Water Act. The issue became a key topic of concern for manufacturers when the Obama administration issued its overreaching WOTUS rule in 2015. In 2017, President Donald Trump issued an executive order instructing EPA to rescind the Obama-era rule, which was also contested legally.

Dinsmore says the EPA’s current administrator, Andrew Wheeler — an Ohio native — has said the new WOTUS definition proposed last February is “focused on providing regulatory certainty and clarity that every American can understand.” But the EPA’s new definition, which is scheduled to be published as a final rule in December 2019, is widely expected to face significant legal challenges. 7/10/2019