Internal memos that the Army Corps of Engineers turned over to a Senate committee undermines the scientific and legal basis for the new rule that re-defines the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act, the panel's chairman says.

 

In a letter Monday to the assistant secretary of the Army who oversees the Corps, Jo-Ellen Darcy, Senate Environment and Public Workers Chairman Jim Inhofe said that the documents show the “rule is lacking factual, technical and legal support.”

 

Inhofe, R-Okla., also told Darcy it appears that the Environmental Protection Agency didn't provide the draft final rule to the Corps of Engineers until April 5 when it was submitted for interagency review.

 

The rule, which defines what streams, ditches, wetlands and other areas are subject to regulation as “waters of the United States” (WOTUS), is supposed to be a joint product of the EPA and Corps, which share regulatory responsibility under the law. The rule is set to take effect in August.

 

Click Here to read more.