CERF Submits Comments on Proposal to Rescind "Waters of the United States" Rule

CERF, in conjunction with 11 other scientific societies, has submitted comments on the proposed rule to rescind the 2015 Clean Water Rule definition of “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS). The American Fisheries Society (AFS), American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO), Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation (CERF), Ecological Society of America (ESA), Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society (FMCS), International Association for Great Lakes Research (IAGLR), North American Lake Management Society (NALMS), Phycological Society of America (PSA),Society for Ecological Restoration (SER), Society for Freshwater Science (SFS) and Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS) wrote in support of the sustainable management of the nation’s waters, and in strong opposition to the proposal to rescind the WOTUS definition.

The comments were submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as part of the public comment period required under the agencies' rulemaking authority. They state that the proposed repeal of the 2015 Clean Water Rule, unlike the 2015 Clean Water Rule itself, is unsupported by the peer-reviewed science and evidentiary analysis, has not been subjected to rigorous independent peer review, nor to a robust public comment process, and poses a significant threat to the integrity and security of our drinking water, public health, fisheries, and wildlife habitat while significantly increasing the risks and costs associated with flood and storm damage.

Read the public comments.