According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the new Biden Administration Regulation that will expand the definition of "Waters of the United States" (WOTUS) will raise housing prices and is an overreach of the federal government. The NAHB points to the Clean Water Act's (CWA) "significant nexus test" that is meant to determine the jurisdiction of the federal government over a body of water as the main issue with the regulation.

 

"Rather than providing clarity and certainty for home builders and other affected stakeholders, this definition of WOTUS adds uncertainty and confusion to the regulatory process, raises housing costs and drastically increases federal overreach in the process," said NAHB Chairman Jerry Konter. This is because the test results are decided upon by a federal regulator and the actual use of the test has proven difficult to apply consistently over the United States. Because of this uncertainty in application, housing developers will inevitably need federal permits to build in these areas, which will raise costs.

"The Biden administration has declared a housing affordability crisis, but if the administration is truly interested in knocking down barriers to affordable housing, it will direct the EPA and Corps to keep from implementing this rule until the Supreme Court issues its ruling in the Sackett case," said Konter.

https://www.nahb.org/blog/2022/12/final-wotus-rule-will-muddy-the-waters