NEWS

The NAHB, National Apartment Association, and National Multifamily Housing Council officially expressed their disappointment with the EPA and Department of the Army's decision to expand the definition of "waters of the U.S." (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act. NAHB called the expanded definition "a blow to affordability and regulatory certainty for builders and other stakeholders."

Resources:

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is asking for comments as it conducts its four-year review of Chinese imports, to determine the effects of Chinese goods on U.S. workers, small businesses, manufacturing, critical supply chains, technological leadership, and possible tariff inversions. We encourage you to participate. The comment period ends on January 17. To submit comments, go to https://comments.ustr.gov/s/.

In December, the U.S. International Trade Commission and Department of Commerce began their five-year sunset review of the antidumping and countervailing duties currently in place on hardwood plywood and engineered wood flooring from China.

Decorative Hardwoods Association (formerly HPVA) eNews Volume XV, Issue XXIV: Legislators Push For Commonsense Regulation | Global Financial Firm Moves Into Forest Carbon-Offset Market | EU Agrees On Law To Fight Deforestation | 

As reported in our last eNews, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently reclassified the northern long-eared bat as an endangered species. Last week, more than 20 members of Congress, including the ranking member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, officially requested that no funds be allocated to enable the reclassification of the bat from threatened to endangered.