On August 29, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a final rule to amend the “Revised Definition of Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) in conformity with the U.S. Supreme Court's May 25, 2023 decision in the case of Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency. Two key amendments were the revision of the definition of “adjacent” for wetlands and the elimination of the Significant Nexus standard for all waters. It is anticipated that jurisdictional and regulatory voids may result from the reduction in federal jurisdiction over certain waters. In October of 2023, an interagency team consisting of the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency was convened to conduct a preliminary assessment of the extent and significance of these voids, and to develop background information and policy options for consideration by agency leadership. The resulting draft preliminary assessment is provided below.
WOTUS Draft Preliminary Assessment 1-22-24