Regulatory review processes at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) can take as long as 90 days, and in some instances even longer. During this process, OMB officials typically meet with effected stakeholders and listen to concerns without giving much feedback. However, sources have already started to leak information pertaining to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water Rule.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) draft final rule has been at OMB less than a month, but water industry stakeholders have already begun to discuss changes that were made to the proposed rule. Potential changes include additional language held within the Clean Water Act exemptions, language that would clarify the agency’s intent with regard to water reuse projects, municipal stormwater conveyance systems, and water delivery systems. These types of water features would be exempt from Clean Water Act jurisdiction if their owners and operators can prove to the EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that those features were constructed in dry land. Questions still remain regarding roadside and irrigation ditches but the possible new exemption language could help ease the concerns of local and state governments.