Clean Water Act policy could spur widespread disarray
The Biden administration last week quietly and abruptly announced that developers can no longer rely on decisions made under a high-profile Trump-era Clean Water Act rule about which waters are federally protected to obtain new permits. Legal experts say the move could have far-reaching effects throughout the building, mining and agricultural sectors. At issue is a Jan. 5 post on the Army Corps of Engineers website explaining the agency will “not rely on” an approved “jurisdictional determination” issued under the Trump-era Navigable Waters Protection Rule “in making a new permit decision.”