On Tuesday, June 5, EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers published the long-awaited Guidance and related documents regarding which surface waters and wetlands are considered “waters of the United States” for purposes of Clean Water Act permitting.

Please find PDF copies of the following documents attached:

Additionally, the text of today’s Washington Post article announcing the release is provided below:

EPA Limits Protection of Certain Waterways

The Bush administration made it harder yesterday for non-permanent streams and nearby wetlands to be protected under the federal Clean Water Act.

The new guidance issued by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers requires that for such waters to be protected, there must be a “significant nexus” shown between the intermittent stream or wetland and a traditional waterway.

And the guidance says a determination will be made on a case-by-case basis, analyzing flow and other issues. Environmentalists argued that would negate the broader regional importance of many such waterways in the aggregate on water bodies downstream.

Assistant EPA Administrator Benjamin E. Grumbles said the guidance to regional officials “sends a clear signal we’ll use our regulatory tools” to meet President Bush’s promise of no net loss of the wetlands. He said it “maintains… the Bush administration’s strong commitment to wetlands conservation.”

Environmentalists said many of the new rules will put in jeopardy many of the intermittent streams and headwaters under the Clean Water Act and will result in less protection of wetlands. “This guidance adds unnecessary and unintended hurdles for agencies and citizens trying to protect our waters,” said Jan Goldman-Carter, an attorney for the National Wildlife Federation.