Policy Letters

Letters to Congress and the Administration on behalf of the

Western States Water Council

Archive

WOTUS Letter to EPA and Corps

On October 4, the WSWC sent a letter to the EPA and Army (Civil Works) expressing the need for more robust and ongoing consultation with states on the development of a new rule defining the jurisdictional scope of “waters of the United States.”

State Comments on EPA’s Request for WOTUS Recommendations

On September 3, 2021, the public comment period closed on the EPA's Request for Recommendations: Waters of the United States. The following links are comments submitted by some of our states, sharing their positive and negative experiences under different WOTUS regulatory regimes.

Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Rule

On August 2, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) closed the comment period for its Intention to Reconsider and Revise the Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Rule (Docket #EPA-HQ-OW-2021-0302-0001). EPA’s notice of intent indicated that its revisions...

Rural and Tribal Water Infrastructure

The Western States Water Council, Native American Rights Fund, and National Congress of American Indians sent a joint letter to various Congressional committees, urging them to prioritize federal funding to meet urgent tribal and rural water infrastructure needs as they consider potential infrastructure funding packages.

Corps Nationwide Permit Rulemaking

On November 16, 2020, comments were due to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) regarding their Proposal to Reissue and Modify Nationwide Permits (NWPs). Western states commented both individually and through the Association of Clean Water Administrators (ACWA). States that individually commented included Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.