The government withdrew the so-called interpretive rule for its Waters of the United States proposal, a step that farm groups said was required by the omnibus appropriations bill enacted at the end of 2015. “Farmers have a lot of concerns about WOTUS,” said Chip Bowling, president of the National Corn Growers Association. “We hope that the withdrawal of the interpretive rule will allow us to get to the true matter at hand: how the Clean Water Act is administered.” WOTUS, widely unpopular in farm country, would spell out the upstream reach of the water law. Bowling said NCGA wants clear and workable rules for farmers. Some farm groups, such as the American Farm Bureau Federation, are pressing the EPA to abandon WOTUS.
The memorandum withdrawing the interpretive rule is available here. The EPA home page for WOTUS is available here.