Construction Industry Concerns with ‘Waters of the U.S.’ Rule Remain

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) released the following statement on the “Waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS) final rule issued today by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps).

“ABC remains concerned that the Waters of the U.S. rule issued today will lead to an unnecessarily longer and more expensive permitting process for contractors which would undoubtedly harm the construction industry,” said ABC Vice President of Government Affairs Geoff Burr. “Throughout the rulemaking process the business community as a whole, state and local officials, as well as a bipartisan group of congressional lawmakers have opposed the considerable expansion of federal jurisdiction granted under the overreaching proposed rule.

The proposed rule would dramatically expand the scope of federal authority over water and land uses across the country and has met heavy opposition from a wide range of industries within the business community, a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators, bipartisan group of members of the House of Representatives and the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy.

ABC has been a vocal opponent of WOTUS since it was proposed in April 2014 and has:
• Filed comments along with more than 50 ABC chapters to voice deep concern over the rule
• Filed comments with a group of 375 trade associations to oppose the rule
• Filed comments as a member of the Waters Advocacy Coalition (WAC) to oppose the rule

Visit ABC for more information.