WAC Coalition Letter to President Trump Supporting Executive Order on WOTUS Rule

Dear Mr. President,

As members of the Waters Advocacy Coalition (WAC), we want to express our strong support for your Executive Order (EO) on the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule. We applaud your leadership, Presidential initative, and prompt attention to a significant regulatory barrier to a thriving economy and strong infrastructure. We believe the EO sets the nation on a path toward pro-growth, pro-jobs, and pro-environmental policies that will benefit all Americans. We look forward to working with your Administration to provide much needed clarity regarding the scope of federal jurisidiction under the Clean Water Act. We also support action to withdraw and re-purpose the rule, as appropriate and consistent with law, reflecting the principles of federalism and recognizing the important role of the states in protection our nation's waters.

The Waters Advocacy Coalition represents a large cross-section of the nation's economy including the construction, real estate, mining, manufacturing, forest products, agriculture, energy, recreation, and public health and safety sectors, all of which are vital to a thriving national economy and provide much needed jobs. Many of the Coalition's members construct residential developments, multi-family housing units, commercial buildings, shopping centers, factories, warehouses, waterworks, and other utility facilities. The Coalition's members construct, operate and maintain critical infrastructure such as highways, bridges, railroads, tunnels, airports, electric generation, transmission, and distribution facilities, and pipeline facilities. The Coalition's agricultural members provide virtually every agricultural commodity produced commercially in the United States, including but not limited to significant portions of the U.S. milk, corn, cotton, sugar, egg, pork, and beef supply. In addition, other Coalition members sell and distribute fertilizer, crop protection, and biotechnology products used by American farmers. Coalition members design, build, manage, and maintain golf facilities that generate economic development and tax revenue for thousands of communities across the country. Other coalition members are focused specifically on wildlife and habitat conservation. Coalition members represent producers of most of America's coal, metals, and industrial and agriculture minerals; the manufactuers of mining and mineral processing machinery, equipment, and supplies; and the engineering and consulting firms, financial institutions, and other firms serving the mining industry. The Coalition also has member groups representing the energy industry that generate, transmit, transport, and distribute our nation's energy to residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional customers.

We look forward to working with your Administration, and in particular with agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to protect this nation's waters while providing jurisidictional clarity and permitting certainty to the business community.

(List of sign-ons in letter)