A Bi-Weekly Publication Friday November 30, 2007

In This Issue: · PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD EXTENDED FOR RAPANOS GUIDANCE · SAVE THE DATE – GREAT LAKES DAY 2008 EXTENSION OF COMMENT PERIOD FOR RAPANOS GUIDANCE EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers are extending the public comment period for the joint guidance issued following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Rapanos decision. The guidance that was finally issued on June 5, 2007 was meant to provide clarification about federal jurisdiction of the waters of the United States. While a primary purpose of the guidance was to “establish an efficient and effective process for determining Clean Water Act Section 404 jurisdiction,” the guidance instead further confuses jurisdiction about which waters receive federal protection and provides for a complicated case-by-case process that staff must undergo to make a jurisdictional determination. Essentially, the guidance requires waters to meet one of the two tests outlined in the opinions written for the Rapanos decision. Protection of our waters will come for: 1) “traditionally navigable waters” and wetlands adjacent to these waters, 2) “non-navigable tributaries that are relatively permanent and wetlands that are physically connected to these tributaries”, and 3) other tributaries and wetlands if case-by-case determinations prove there is a significant nexus with the traditionally navigable waters. Rather than ensuring protection of our vital water resources, the guidance ensures significant hurdles for agencies and citizens, and ultimately, more future court cases. Because resources are already scarcely available to the agencies, implementing case-by-case determinations will further waste resources leaving other waters at risk and more vulnerable to degradation and destruction. The agencies intend to either re-issue, revise, or suspend the guidance after considering the public comments received and field experience with implementing the guidance. The public comment period has been extended 45 days. Comments on the guidance and experience with its implementation are now due on January 21, 2008. You can submit comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2007-0282, by one of the following methods: · Online: http:/www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments. · E-mail: OW-Docket@epa.gov. Include the docket number, EPA-HQ-OW-2007-0282 in the subject line of the message. · Mail: Water Docket, Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460. For more information, visit: http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/guidance/CWAwaters.html SAVE THE DATE – GREAT LAKES DAY 2008 Save the date for Great Lakes Day in Washington, DC, February 28, 2008. This long-standing annual tradition provides a great opportunity for the region’s policymakers and opinion leaders, as well as Members of Congress and staff, to share priorities for the region and strategies for advancing a federal legislative agenda for the Great Lakes. Great Lakes Day is an annual event hosted by the Great Lakes Commission and its partners to carry a unified expression of the Great Lakes region’s priorities for legislation and appropriations to assist in protecting the Great Lakes region’s environment and sustaining our economy. Last year, the Commission, in partnership with the Northeast Midwest Institute, the Council of Great Lakes Governors, the Healing Our Waters Coalition, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, the Mayors of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Cities Initiative and tribal representatives brought more than 150 people from the region to Washington. For more information, visit: http://www.glc.org/greatlakesday/.

The Michigan Wetland Action Coalition (MWAC), a project of Tip of The Mitt Watershed Council, is a network of wetland protection advocates across the state. MWAC is focused on promoting sound wetland protection policies at the state and federal level through education and advocacy. Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council 426 Bay Street , Petoskey, Michigan 49770 Phone: (231) 347-1181 x 114 Fax: (231) 347-5928 Email: jenniferm@watershedcouncil.org Web: http://www.michiganwetlands.org/