SBA Office of Advocacy Calls for ‘Waters of the U.S.’ Rule to be Withdrawn

The Office of Advocacy, an independent office within the Small Business Administration (SBA), has submitted their formal comments to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concerning the proposed rule redefining “waters of the U.S.” and the scope of the Clean Water Act’s jurisdiction. The Office of Advocacy has found that the Corps and EPA “have improperly certified the proposed rule under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) because it would have direct, significant effects on small businesses. Advocacy recommends that the agencies withdraw the rule and that the EPA conduct a Small Business Advocacy Review panel before proceeding any further with this rulemaking.” The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) and the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) require small entities to be considered in the federal rulemaking process. The Office of Advocacy is charged with representing the views of small business before federal agencies and Congress, while making sure that federal agencies comply with the RFA and SBREFA. The office argues that the Corps and EPA used an improper regulatory framework as their baseline for determining the impact of their rulemaking, imposing direct costs and significant economic impacts on small businesses. AGC and other groups in the Waters Advocacy Coalition have met with the SBA’s Office of Advocacy as well as the House and Senate Small Business Committees multiple times to help explain the serious economic errors with the agencies’ analysis and the significant burden the rule would impose on small businesses. AGC believes this is an important victory and validation of the construction industry’s perspective about the egregious problems with the substance and process involved with this rulemaking. EPA and the Corps, however, remain unlikely to withdraw the rulemaking before the comment period closes Oct. 20. Read the full SBA Office of Advocacy Letter here. To learn more about the rulemaking and submit your own comments to EPA and the Corps, visit AGC’s Regulatory Action Center. For more information, please contact Scott Berry at (703) 837-5321 or berrys@agc.org.