In Orlando real estate development, the major impact that the “Waters of the United States” ruling of the “Clean Water Act”, deals with is wetlands.  The “Waters of the United States” rule or WOTUS defines what constitutes a wetland through various mechanisms.

The current rule is a patchwork of regulations which are confusing to the common land owner.  The proposed revisions to the WOTUS rule would afford a more consistent and easier to underdstand definition of what constitutes “waters of the United States”.  This would predominantly be related to wetlands in the Orlando Florida Real Estate Development, especially the Central Florida Home Builders.

The proposal would more clearly define what is a traditional navigable waters; tributaries, regulated ditches, lakes and ponds, impoundments and adjacent wetlands that are regulated by the rule and the US Army Corps of Engineers.

The proposed rules theoretically would allow land planners and civil engineers to create land use plans for real estate developers and home builders with a higher product yield of the land.

To see a summary of the rule changes visit the USEPA’s fact sheet on the proposed rule changes.

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-12/documents/factsheet_-_wotus_revision_overview_12.10_1.pdf