Final WOTUS Rule a Blow to Housing Affordability

Alicia Huey, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders and a custom home builder and developer from Birmingham, Ala., today issued the following statement after the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a revised, final waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule under the federal Clean Water Act in the aftermath of the Supreme Court Sackett ruling:

“The amended WOTUS rule represents a blow to housing affordability. It assures continued uncertainty regarding federal jurisdiction as established by the Supreme Court’s recent Sackett decision that made clear the federal government only has authority over relatively permanent waterbodies. By failing to provide a definition of a ‘relatively permanent’ waterbody, the Biden administration set the stage for continued federal overreach, bureaucratic delays during the wetlands permitting process, and regulatory confusion for home builders and land developers. It will directly result in continued regulatory barriers to affordable housing as single-family and multifamily developers struggle to find the developable land necessary to produce the new affordable housing units this nation desperately needs.”