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Clean Water Act Definition of
"Waters of the United States" This page is designed
to provide updates and background information regarding the scope of
"Waters of the United States" protected under the Clean Water Act. EPA and the Corps of
Engineers have jointly issued a legal memorandum that interprets the June 19,
2006 Supreme Court decision in the consolidated cases Rapanos v. U.S.
and Carabell v. U.S. (known as the "Rapanos"
decision). The guidance is being released to Corps of Engineers and EPA field
offices to ensure nationwide predictability, reliability, and consistency in
identifying wetlands, streams and rivers subject to the Clean Water Act
(CWA). The EPA/Corps guidance reflects the agencies’ intent to provide
maximum protection for the Nation's aquatic resources under the CWA as
interpreted by the Supreme Court in Rapanos. To ensure such decisions
are made in a timely manner, the agencies have released concurrently with the
guidance a Memorandum of Agreement laying out a process with specific short
timeframes, when necessary, for reaching interagency agreements on
jurisdictional calls. In addition, a series of questions and answers provides
additional information.
Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM)
General Information on Wetlands |
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