Chuck Chaitovitz, Vice President for Environmental Affairs and Sustainability at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, issued the following statement regarding next steps on the Navigable Waters Protection Rule.
“The U.S. Chamber of Commerce joins with our fellow trade associations in the Water Advocacy Coalition to urge EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide certainty and flexibility to the business community and streamline the definition of waters of the United States. Especially in the wake of the uncertainty caused by the recent Arizona federal district court decision vacating the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, we urge the agencies and the Department of Justice to take prompt steps to ensure full, timely appellate review of the decision while limiting its scope, and to continue implementing the agencies’ plan to ensure robust stakeholder consultation and notice-and-comment rulemakings to vet all relevant issues.
“The Navigable Waters Protection Rule is a thoroughly-vetted solution that received broad stakeholder support. As the Administration proceeds with its planned rulemakings, a key goal will be to ensure that the new rule contains a commonsense definition of ‘waters’ and the flexibility needed to accelerate projects and improve water quality without bureaucratic delays.
“Effective, transparent, and timely federal government decision-making is necessary now more than ever in order to build smart, modern, resilient infrastructure and meet the Administration’s ambitious climate and infrastructure agenda.”
