The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule defining the scope of waters protected under the Clean Water Act… The rule will ensure protection for the nation’s public health and aquatic resources, and increase CWA program predictability and consistency by clarifying the scope of ‘‘waters of the United States’’ protected under the Act…This rule is effective on August 28, 2015.”

- The Final Clean Water Rule, USEPA (link to full document)

On August 28, 2015, the EPA's new rule that clarifies some of the definitionis of "Waters of the United States" will take effect. There has been a great deal of confusion surrounding what will be redefined, how will the changes affect state and local jurisdictions, and what the potential challenges will be.

Luckily we have instructor Larry Lodwick, who teaches our Habitat Site Restoration courses, to read and make some sense out of the 75 page document. He'll be presenting an informative webinar to go over the changes, review what the new rule DOES, what it DOESN'T DO, and highlight some potential effects and challenges. He's also agreed to take questions from attendees for discussion, so this promises to be one of our liveliest webinars yet!

Since this topic is so timely, we are presenting the webinar sessions on September 16-18, 2015 from 10AM-12PM PST. So if you deal with water quality, wetlands delineation and permitting, wetlands/habitat management or remediation, NPDES regulations, stormwater, or other water-related topics, you'll want to join us to find out how the "Waters of the United States" changes to the Clean Water Rule will affect you.

If you are planning to attend the session and have a question about the rule, please email your question to info@nwetc.org with “Waters of the United States Question” in the subject at least one week before the first session of the webinar. Larry will integrate reoccurring questions into the course material, and address relevant issues during the session, time permitting.