The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of the Army
(Army) are announcing the withdrawal of an interpretive rule addressing the exemption from permitting provided under section 404(f)(1)(A) of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The agencies want to make clear that the statutory exemption of 404(f)(1)(A) still remains available for use when applicable for discharges of dredged and/or fill material associated with normal farming, silviculture, and ranching activities that are part of an established operation and that do not have as their purpose bringing an area of waters of the U.S. into a use to which it was not previously subject, where the flow or circulation of the waters of the U.S. may be impaired or the reach of such waters be reduced (see 33 CFR 323.4 for more information).