CWA Rule Creates New Data Collection Burdens Despite Simplicity Claims

The Trump administration's proposed narrower Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction rule would create major new burdens for collecting and analyzing data to determine whether waterbodies are subject to the law, observers say, pointing to the regulatory text that acknowledges the extensive additional work regulators might have to undertake. At a Dec. 11 event to unveil the new rule, crafted jointly by EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers, a wide range of supporters -- including Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler,...