EPA Proposes Massive Rollbacks to Clean Water Act Protections

Earlier this month the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers proposed further narrowing the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS), potentially stripping away Clean Water Act protections for at least 95% of individual wetlands and 79% of rivers and streams in the continental U.S. This latest assault on one of our bedrock environmental laws follows the 2023 Supreme Court decision that already dramatically rolled back protections for thousands of bodies of water across the country.

This proposal would limit federal protections for tributary rivers, streams by defining “relatively permanent” streams as those that have standing or flowing water every day for at least 11 months out of the year.

It would also sharply narrow protections for wetlands, requiring them to have continuous, perennial surface water connections to another protected water or, alternatively, be indistinguishably part of a traditional navigable water, the territorial seas, a jurisdictional impoundment, or a jurisdictional tributary.

These rollbacks would threaten water quality for rivers, streams, lakes, wetlands, and other vital waterways across the country and increase risks from pollution for drinking water, recreation, fisheries, and aquatic life.

ACT NOW: Submit a comment to the EPA opposing these rollbacks that will harm our water and our communities. It only takes a minute, and the deadline to comment is October 9th.