In a major policy shift, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a proposed rule that could strip Clean Water Act safeguards from vast areas of the nation’s waterways. The rule, establishing a more limited definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS), would narrow federal oversight to mostly permanent water bodies — such as rivers, lakes, and streams — and only wetlands that have a continuous surface connection to those waters.
In a statement, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin argued that by clearly defining which waters fall under federal jurisdiction, the rule will bring “predictability, consistency, and clarity” to landowners who have long faced legal uncertainty.
But environmental groups, led by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), strongly condemn the proposal. According to NRDC’s analysis, the new rule could expose between 38 and 70 million acres of wetlands — along with countless seasonal streams — to pollution and destruction. These waters play a vital role in filtering drinking water, buffering floods, and sustaining wildlife, the NRDC warns — and narrowing their protection, the group argues, amounts to a “reckless giveaway to polluters.”
This move comes from the 2023 Supreme Court decision in Sackett v. EPA, which limited the scope of the Clean Water Act by ruling that federal protections apply only to wetlands that have a continuous surface connection to certain “relatively permanent” bodies of water. The new EPA rule closely aligns with that decision, redefining “relatively permanent” more narrowly and effectively excluding many seasonal or isolated wetlands.
Environmentalists argue that reducing protections for so many wetlands could have serious consequences: more water pollution, greater flood risk, and degraded ecosystems. As the public comment period unfolds, environmental groups are preparing to push back — and warn that what’s at stake goes beyond regulatory debate. As NRDC puts it, weakening the legal protections now could make communities more vulnerable at a time when climate change is intensifying storms, flooding, and droughts.
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Natural Resources Defense Council