The Trump administration on Tuesday proposed reduced federal protections for many small waterways such as streams and wetlands, opening them up to potential new harm from developers, energy companies and others.
The Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) proposal would redefine the Waters of the United States (WOTUS), a legal term for which waterways are protected from harm and pollution by the federal government under the Clean Water Act.
The change is a major victory for developers, energy companies and other industries that emit water pollutants and use land. They had complained that under the 2015 rule created by the Obama administration, large swaths of often dry land required permits for routine activities.
The announcement came days after the EPA set out plans to roll back carbon dioxide limits for new coal-fired power plants. In recent months, the agency has moved to repeal or weaken regulations on auto efficiency, power plant emissions, methane pollution and other major rules, mainly from the Obama administration.
EPAs new plan is already setting off alarm bells from environmentalists, who say it could present a grave threat to drinking water, wildlife and ecosystems.
Its also guaranteed to kick off numerous aggressive lawsuits once the EPA makes the changes final.
The Obama rule is only currently in effect in about half of the countrys states, due to lawsuits challenging it.
Trump administration officials said that the new rule would make it easier and simpler for farmers, landowners, developers, states and others to tell if a water body is federally protected.
Streamlining that determination is important to industries because certain activities that could pollute water, like filling ditches or moving ponds, might require an expensive federal permit.
EPA leaders are promoting the rule change as a means to give states more authority to regulate water pollution.
Our proposal would replace the 2015 definition with one that respects the rule of law and the primary role of states in managing their land and water resources. It would end years of uncertainty over where federal jurisdiction begins and ends, acting EPA chief Andrew Wheeler said at an event at agency headquarters with dozens of industry officials and Republican lawmakers.
Our new, more precise definition means that hard-working Americans will spend less time and money determining whether they need a federal permit and more time upgrading aging infrastructure, building homes, creating jobs and growing crops to feed our families, he said.
Under the Trump administrations proposed definition, certain small streams that are tributaries of larger water bodies will no longer be protected, nor will wetlands that arent directly connected to otherwise protected waters such as rivers.
Streambeds that only have water when it rains also wont be subject to federal protection.
David Ross, head of the EPAs water office, said the rule keeps many of the same features of the one from 2015. But the biggest differences come in the definitions of wetlands and tributaries, he told reporters on Monday.
He pointed to many of the inclusions and exclusions in the new rule, saying, a lot of that language was actually pulled from the 2015 rule.
EPA could not offer clear numbers for the amount of waterways that would lose protections under the new proposal.
Ross said regulators could not quantify the amount and he criticized attempts to do so, saying many of the determinations would have to be made on-site.
Environmentalists are warning that about 60 percent of stream miles will no longer be protected from pollution under the rule. ... Before joining the EPA, Ross worked for the Republican attorneys general of Wyoming and Wisconsin to help sue to stop the 2015 rule. ...