Trump Administration Cuts Back Federal Protections For Streams And Wetlands

[Belsnickel]

https://www.npr.org/2020/01/23/798809951/trump-administration-is-rolling-back-obama-era-protections-for-smaller-waterways

Quote:The Environmental Protection Agency is dramatically reducing the amount of U.S. waterways that get federal protection under the Clean Water Act — a move that is welcomed by many farmers, builders and mining companies but is opposed even by the agency's own science advisers.

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, who announced the repeal of an earlier Obama-era water rule in September, chose to make the long-anticipated announcement Thursday in Las Vegas, at the National Association of Home Builders International Builders' Show.

"All states have their own protections for waters within their borders, and many regulate more broadly than the federal government," Wheeler told reporters on a conference call before the announcement.

"Our new rule recognizes this relationship and strikes the proper balance between Washington, D.C., and the states," he added. "And it clearly details which waters are subject to federal control under the Clean Water Act and, importantly, which waters falls solely under the states' jurisdiction."

The biggest change is a controversial move to roll back federal limits on pollution in wetlands and smaller waterways that were introduced less than five years ago by President Barack Obama.

The Obama executive action, which broadened the definition of "waters of the United States," applied to about 60% of U.S. waterways. It aimed to bring clarity to decades of political and legal debate over which waters should qualify.

However, various business interests painted the regulation as a massive federal overreach. Within weeks after the change was announced in May 2015, 27 states sued to block it. At the time, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a leading critic, called the new rule "so broad and open to interpretation that everything from ditches and dry creek beds to gullies to isolated ponds formed after a big rain could be considered a 'water of the United States.' "

The revised rule announced Thursday states that ephemeral bodies of water — those that form only after rainfall or that flow only part of the year and dry up at other times — are among those that are not subject to federal control. This exception also applies to waste treatment systems, groundwater, prior converted cropland and farm watering ponds.

It also identifies four categories that are federally regulated under the Clean Water Act: large navigable waters such as the Mississippi River, tributaries, lakes and ponds, and major wetlands.

The article is a long one, so I'll end the copy pasta there. I could go on and on about the impact this has and why my position is strongly against this rollback on regulations, but I will share these links that make the argument better than I could:

https://www.backcountryhunters.org/what_a_roll_back_of_the_clean_water_act_means_for_those_who_hunt_and_fish

https://www.tu.org/blog/clean-water-rule-update-january-2020/

https://www.trcp.org/clean-water-rule/

https://www.iwla.org/publications/news/2020/01/23/izaak-walton-league-decries-weakening-of-protections-for-clean-water-and-wildlife-habitat

https://www.nrdc.org/court-battles/clean-water-rule

https://www.cleanwateraction.org/releases/despite-trump-claims-epas-rollbacks-put-water-risk

You can see that my perspective lies strongest as a sportsman. However, this issue goes far beyond that. Our waterways are all interconnected, and any that are at risk put all of them at risk.