1999 Revisions to the Clean Water Act Regulatory Definition of "Discharge of Dredged Material"; Final Rule

On December 30, 2008, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule to amend a Clean Water Act (CWA) section 404 regulation that defines the term "discharge of dredged material." This action conforms the Corps' and EPA's regulations to a court order invalidating the January 17, 2001, amendments to the regulatory definition (referred to as the "Tulloch II" rule). This final rule responds to the court decision by deleting language from the regulation that was invalidated. The effect of the court order is that the 1999 rule text was reinstated with the 2008 rule.

On May 10, 1999, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated a final rule Amending a Clean Water Act (CWA) section 404 regulation that defines the term "discharge of dredged material". This action conformed that definition to the results of a lawsuit holding that by asserting jurisdiction over any redeposit of dredged material, including incidental fallback, the agencies had exceeded their statutory authority under the CWA. This action was intended to comply with the injunction issued by the district court in that case.