Arkansas Home Builders Association

In a move strongly supported by NAHB, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announced today that EPA will work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to solicit public input and craft a new regulation for the waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule that reduces red tape, cuts overall permitting costs and lowers the cost of business in communities across the country while protecting the nation’s navigable waters from pollution. “NAHB commends the EPA for moving to make changes to the WOTUS rule that will protect our nation’s waterways and provide builders and developers the clarity and certainty they need in the federal wetlands permitting process to help house America’s citizens,” said NAHB Chairman Buddy Hughes. “Today’s action by the EPA will help alleviate federal permitting roadblocks that are exacerbating the nation’s housing affordability crisis.” EPA will also undertake a rulemaking process to revise the 2023 definition of WOTUS with a focus on clarity,...

If you have a stake in home building, then you know that every day Congress makes decisions that affect the home building industry and your bottom line. When we reach out to members of Congress, we have an impact on the decisions they make. BuilderLink , NAHB’s national grassroots program, advances the housing industry by connecting members of Congress to the people who matter most – their constituents. Register now to speak up for housing and take action through CapitolConnect™, BuilderLink’s legislative activation tool .

National Association of Home Builders Urgent: Corps' Memos Put EPA in Hot Water over Clean Water Rules  Date:  July 30, 2015 From: Tom Woods, 2015 NAHB Chairman of the Board To:      NAHB Members NAHB State and Local EOs   This week, we learned that before the Environmental Protection Agency released its final version of the waters of the United States rule, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers told EPA it was using flawed technical and scientific analysis to craft the regulation – methods so indefensible that the Corps wanted no part of the critical documents that EPA used to support the rule. This new information is yet another example of how EPA has flaunted the law i...

Upcoming Webinar Provides Details on WOTUS Regulations This post was updated with information about NAHB’s comment letter on July 23. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently released a final rule defining “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act. The rule contains new regulatory definitions and terms that define the scope of federal jurisdiction and Clean Water Act permitting. As a benefit to members, NAHB is hosting a free informational webinar on July 28 at 2 p.m. EST describing the new rule and how to comply with the Clean Water Act when the regulation becomes effective on Aug. 28. EPA has not yet indicated how it plans to put these new definitions in place, and that’s one reason why NAHB CEO Jerry Howard has asked EPA officials to delay the final rule by at least three months. “To avoid unnecessary unpredictability, inconsistency, increased project costs and delays and ever ...

WASHINGTON, May 12 - The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) today commended the House for passing legislation that would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from vastly increasing federal jurisdiction over the nation's waterways and wetlands without going through the proper rulemaking process. "This legislation would prevent a federal land grab that would raise housing costs and harm conservation, water quality, job growth and economic development," said NAHB Chairman Tom Woods, a home builder from Blue Springs, Mo. Approved by a bipartisan vote of 261 to 155, H.R. 1732, the Regulatory Integrity Protection Act, would require EPA and the Corps to withdraw their proposed rule and develop a new plan in consultation with state and local governments and other affected stakeholders, including the small business community. The bill also stipulates that such a plan must be based on sound economic and scientific analy...

Bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate yesterday would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from implementing a proposed rule that could result in millions of acres of private property to be regulated as wetlands under the Clean Water Act. “NAHB strongly supports this legislative fix championed by Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) that would prevent the agencies from greatly expanding the federal government’s role in regulating our nation’s waters,” said NAHB Chairman Tom Woods. “If this rulemaking were to go into effect, it would do little to help the environment and lead to a more costly permitting process, drive up the price of housing, infringe on states’ rights and hurt job growth.” EPA and the Corps’ proposal to significantly expand the definition of “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act is so broad that it could be interpreted to include almost any water body, such as ditc...