Get Started: EPA, Army Corps reconsider 'Waters of the US'

WETLANDS REGULATION

The Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers are pushing back the implementation of a widely debated Obama-era regulation that's opposed by many small businesses and that seeks to expand government jurisdiction over bodies of water.

The agencies plan to reconsider which bodies of water should be covered by the rule — would shield many small streams, wetlands and other bodies of water from pollution and development — and are delaying the effective date of the Waters of the United States rule by two years while they make that determination. The agencies did not set an effective date — the EPA said in a statement it would be set when the rule is officially published in the Federal Register.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order a year ago directing the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to review the rule issued in 2015 and related to the Clean Water Act. Some small business groups and agricultural organizations oppose the regulation, claiming that it imposes unfair limits on the use of private lands. Small business advocates contend the rule would prevent companies from making improvements to their property — for example, creating parking lots — without going through a lengthy and expensive permit process.

Some small business groups and environmental groups support the rule, which has been the subject of federal litigation.

The rule and information about it, including public comments pro and con, can be found on the Federal Register website, http://bit.ly/2nF4E9w .

ONLINE LEARNING

A business can have a great product or service, but if customers have a difficult or unpleasant time -- in other words, a bad experience -- while interacting with a company representative or its website, they won't be coming back. SCORE, which offers free advice to small businesses, is sponsoring an online seminar on improving customers' experience. It will be held Tuesday, Feb. 13, at 1 p.m. Eastern time. You can learn more and register at http://bit.ly/2DSn67C .

Using freelancers to help run a business is the topic of another SCORE seminar. It will be held Thursday, Feb. 15, at 1 p.m. Eastern time. Learn more and register at http://bit.ly/2DHua88 .

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Follow Joyce Rosenberg at www.twitter.com/JoyceMRosenberg . Her work can be found here: https://apnews.com/search/joyce%20rosenberg