NMPF: WOTUS Unclear and Overly Complicated

National Milk Producers Federation President and CEO Jim Mulhern calls the new Waters of the U.S. Rule "cumbersome, unclear and overly complicated." NMPF released the response Tuesday following the end-of-year announcement of the WOTUS final rule by the Environmental Protection Agency last week. The organization says that because the EPA's most recent iteration fails to resolve a 50-year struggle to define a water body subject to federal regulation under the Clean Water Act, NMPF members will face continued uncertainty as they attempt to comprehend and comply with unclear regulations. Mulhern says it's important to note that EPA's latest iteration is not a complete return to the unworkable rule adopted in 2015. Depending on the outcome of the Sackett case this spring, Mulhern adds, "it may be time for Congress to step in in a bipartisan manner to provide clarity regarding which bodies of water are under the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act."