The Biden administration on Friday imposed a rule expanding the definition of waterways that the government has authority to regulate, reversing a Trump-era change and replacing it with language the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said should prevent the need for future revisions — including any that a pending Supreme Court case might require.
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The EPA said it would return the Waters of the United States regulatory framework to something resembling its pre-2015 state — before the Obama administration significantly and controversially widened the scope of the Clean Water Act to include even ephemeral streams and ponds.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the agency aimed “to deliver a durable definition of WOTUS that safeguards our nation’s waters, strengthens economic opportunity, and protects people’s health while providing greater certainty for farmers, ranchers, and landowners.”
Although the Biden rule is less expansive than Obama’s, Republicans quickly attacked it as overly burdensome.
At EPA, a fight over numbers in water protection rule reveals a shift in ideology
“The rule announced today is the latest round of regulatory overreach regarding what waters are subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act, and will unfairly burden America’s farmers, ranchers, miners, infrastructure builders, and landowners,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said in a statement.
The Supreme Court heard a case in October challenging the reach of the Clean Water Act, the landmark 1972 legislation that aimed to restore the health of polluted and degraded rivers and lakes. Members of the court’s conservative majority raised concerns about the law’s broad reach.
The Biden administration said its rule would define the law’s oversight as covering what it called “traditional navigable waters,” including interstate waterways and upstream water sources that influence the health and quality of those waterways. The definition is based on the legal framework established before 2015, with adjustments based on court rulings and newer science, EPA said.
10 steps you can take to lower your carbon footprint
The EPA said it would return the Waters of the United States regulatory framework to something resembling its pre-2015 state — before the Obama administration significantly and controversially widened the scope of the Clean Water Act to include even ephemeral streams and ponds.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the agency aimed “to deliver a durable definition of WOTUS that safeguards our nation’s waters, strengthens economic opportunity, and protects people’s health while providing greater certainty for farmers, ranchers, and landowners.”
Although the Biden rule is less expansive than Obama’s, Republicans quickly attacked it as overly burdensome.
At EPA, a fight over numbers in water protection rule reveals a shift in ideology
“The rule announced today is the latest round of regulatory overreach regarding what waters are subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act, and will unfairly burden America’s farmers, ranchers, miners, infrastructure builders, and landowners,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said in a statement.
The Supreme Court heard a case in October challenging the reach of the Clean Water Act, the landmark 1972 legislation that aimed to restore the health of polluted and degraded rivers and lakes. Members of the court’s conservative majority raised concerns about the law’s broad reach.
The Biden administration said its rule would define the law’s oversight as covering what it called “traditional navigable waters,” including interstate waterways and upstream water sources that influence the health and quality of those waterways. The definition is based on the legal framework established before 2015, with adjustments based on court rulings and newer science, EPA said.
