ARLINGTON, VA | August 30, 2023 – The National Apartment Association (NAA) and the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) are disappointed with the final Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule announced yesterday by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The new rule will only serve to worsen housing affordability and increase costs for housing providers and residents.
The revised rule does not comply with Supreme Court precedent and with the limits on regulatory jurisdiction set forth in the Clean Water Act. Federal authorities have chosen to ignore the Supreme Court’s direction in Sackett v EPA set down earlier this summer.
Housing providers strongly support protecting our water resources, but we cannot support the changes issued in the revised rule.
This rule is vague and creates uncertainty for America’s housing providers. Research by NMHC and the National Association of Home Builders finds that regulations account for 40 percent of multifamily development costs. If we hope to address our housing affordability crisis, we need smart regulations, not those that are onerous or even unnecessary.
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For more than 26 years, the National Apartment Association (NAA) and the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) have partnered on behalf of America's apartment industry. Drawing on the knowledge and policy expertise of staff in Washington, D.C., as well as the advocacy power of 141 NAA state and local affiliated associations, NAA and NMHC provide a single voice for developers, owners and operators of multifamily rental housing. One-third of all Americans rent their housing, and 40 million of them live in an apartment home.