ARLINGTON, Va. – National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) CEO Jim Matheson today issued the following statement on the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to replace the 2015 Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule:
“We applaud the administration for recognizing the need to replace the WOTUS rule. The 2015 rule was a significant overreach of the federal government’s authority to regulate water and land. We look forward to working with regulators on a more workable and lawful regulation, one that allows electric co-ops to conduct maintenance and build new infrastructure without triggering additional and more onerous permitting requirements. Such an approach enables electric co-ops to continue providing reliable and affordable electricity to more than 42 million Americans.”
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the national trade association representing more than 900 local electric cooperatives. From growing suburbs to remote farming communities, electric co-ops serve as engines of economic development for 42 million Americans across 56 percent of the nation’s landscape. As local businesses built by the consumers they serve, electric cooperatives have meaningful ties to rural America and invest $12 billion annually in their communities.
-###-