What it means: The EPA and Department of the Army are looking to draft new regulations relating to WOTUS. NFIB sent a letter with recommendations that would protect the nation’s waters while ensuring clarity and consistency for small businesses.

Our take: “Uncertainty is a nemesis of small business owners. Small business landowners, and all property owners, deserve straightforward, invariable guidelines from their regulating bodies,” said NFIB Senior Attorney Rob Smith.

Take Action: Fill out a short survey to highlight the impact of the WOTUS rule on your small business.

Determining what is considered Waters of the United States (WOTUS) is an issue that impacts many small businesses, from farmers and ranchers to developers and construction workers. As federal agencies look to draft new regulations relating to WOTUS, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of the Army are requesting recommendations for future regulations.

In response, NFIB sent a comment letter with suggestions that would protect the nation’s waters while ensuring clarity and consistency for small business landowners. NFIB recommends that:

• Any regulation should define the extent to which wetlands are considered waters
• Agencies give small business owners the opportunity to correct violations so that enforcement actions only occur in cases of willful, repeated violations
• The EPA and Army should submit to Congress proposed legislation to amend the CWA to include a common sense definition of the term “navigable waters”
• The Agencies adopt a simple rule to address what “relatively permanent” means
• The EPA and Army explicitly exclude ditches from the CWA’s general purview.

NFIB opposed the previous Administration’s WOTUS rule, which sought to broadly expand federal jurisdiction over private property. Stay up-to-date on new WOTUS regulations from NFIB. Fill out a short survey to highlight how WOTUS rule impacts your small business.