Rule Status and Litigation Update The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Army are disappointed by the district courts’ rulings which leaves a confusing patchwork of authority in place across the country. Rather than continuing to litigate the Applicability Date Rule, the agencies have decided to focus on the rulemaking actions underway. The agencies are pursuing a two-step rulemaking process in response to the February 2017 Executive Order 13778 calling on the agencies to review the final 2015 Rule and publish for notice and comment a proposed rule rescinding or revising the rule. The agencies are currently reviewing the nearly 800,000 public comments received on the first step to rescind the 2015 Rule and re-codify the prior regulations. In addition, the agencies published on February 14, 2019, a proposed rule to revise the definition of “waters of the United States."