Virtual roundtables to discuss the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers’ effort to come up with a “durable” definition of “waters of the U.S.” will kick off Monday. But many in agriculture and on Capitol Hill say they're perplexed by the organization of the events and how exactly the agencies plan to use the information gleaned from the dialogues. 

Five of the roundtables, which will feature representatives from a diverse range of conservation, farming and other groups, have been organized by farm-related organizations, including the Farm Bureau affiliates in North Carolina, California and Arizona, the Regenerative Agriculture Foundation, and Kansas Livestock Association.

The Monday roundtable was put together by the National Parks Conservation Association and begins at 9:30 a.m. CT. Links to view the roundtables have been posted by EPA and are also available below.

“As EPA and Army continue toward WOTUS implementation that is durable and protects our water resources, it is essential that we hear from diverse perspectives and understand regional variations in how that plays out,” EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Radhika Fox said. “We believe all Americans support clean water and look forward to the interesting dialogue that will be cultivated in these roundtables.”

The way the roundtables were organized has caused some consternation from groups worried about the latest rewrite of the controversial definition of WOTUS, which has divided industry and environmentalists for decades.

EPA and the Corps asked groups last fall to submit nominations for roundtables that include representatives from “agriculture, conservation groups, developers, drinking water and wastewater managers, environmental organizations, communities with environmental justice concerns, industry, Tribal nations, and state and local governments.”

The Waters Advocacy Coalition (WAC), which includes farm groups including the American Farm Bureau Federation, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture and several commodity groups, said in a letter last fall to EPA and the Corps that “the process appears especially cumbersome and resource-intensive for individuals and entities that may not have a national network of activists or resources to tap.”

WAC Chair Courtney Briggs, who was involved in the process in her previous position at the National Association of Home Builders and now as a senior director of government affairs at AFBF, said EPA and the Corps have not been forthcoming with information about the roundtables.

“The agencies haven't released how many panels were submitted” for consideration, she told Agri-Pulse Friday. “They haven't released their methodology for how they selected the panels. They haven't told us who the participants are. They haven't disclosed how the information will be documented or recorded.”

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The agencies’ announcement of the dates and times for the roundtables does not include a list of participants. (Agri-Pulse has asked EPA to identify all the organizations that will be taking part. This story will be updated with that information if it is made available.)

Two Republican congressmen wrote the agencies last week to say “the agencies’ process ... appeared to outsource the administrative work of the agencies to applicants, thereby potentially excluding smaller groups lacking the resources needed to meet the extensive requirements.”

Reps. David Rouzer, R-N.C., and Sam Graves, R-Mo., said they were concerned about “the lack of transparency in the selection process, as well as with the purpose of the discussions facilitated at the roundtables.”

The agencies’ original announcement said the roundtables were designed “to help inform the agencies’ work to develop an enduring definition of WOTUS.”

“Yet when the agencies announced selection of the participants, they described the role of each roundtable as being ‘to facilitate discussion on implementation of ‘waters of the United States’ (WOTUS),” they said. "This phrasing suggests that the agencies are not interested in soliciting and considering feedback for a new WOTUS definition. Rather, it appears they have already moved onto implementation of a new definition of WOTUS, despite ongoing legal challenges and an anticipated ruling from the Supreme Court.”

EPA and the Corps have proposed a return to pre-2015 WOTUS regulations, but the Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments later this year in a case involving wetlands regulation. The agencies will likely have to incorporate the court’s ruling into their definition, which has led some to urge the agencies to wait until after the decision is released.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan has said repeatedly, including in an Agri-Pulse Newsmakers interview, that the agencies are continuing to move forward with their proposal despite the Supreme Court case. Then, once the court’s decision is released, the agencies can act quickly to incorporate the court’s interpretation.

Here is the full list of the roundtables, with links to the livestreams (all times EDT).

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