Request for Remand and Supporting Documentation
On June 9, 2021, the Department of Justice, in coordination with EPA and the Department of the Army, filed a motion in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts requesting that the court remand the Navigable Waters Protection Rule (NWPR) back to the agencies. As explained in the motion and accompanying declarations, the agencies have reviewed the NWPR pursuant to the direction in Executive Order 13990 and initiated new rulemaking to revise the definition of “waters of the United States.” On December 30, 2022, the agencies announced the final "Revised Definition of 'Waters of the United States'" rule. On January 18, 2023, the rule was published in the Federal Register, and the rule took effective on March 20, 2023. Please visit the Rule Status page for additional information about the status of the rule and litigation. More information about the final rule is available here.
As a part of the E.O. 13990 review, agency staff reviewed available data to assess the potential effects of the rule, informed by nearly a full year of implementation. The agencies' remand motion and supporting declarations in the litigation, as well as the documents they reviewed, are provided on this page.
- Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion for Voluntary Remand Without Vacatur (pdf)
- Declaration of Jaime A. Pinkham, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, U.S. Department of the Army (pdf)
- Declaration of Radhika Fox, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (pdf)
- Memorandum for the Record (pdf)
- Supporting Documentation (pdf)