The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday put new limits on an Obama-era rule that subjected watering holes and ditches to federal clean water regulations by treating them like rivers and streams.
The EPA’s definition makes some key changes to the 2015 Waters of the U.S. rule, but does keep a fair amount of the original rule intact.
“Our goal was not to reinvent the wheel,” said David Ross with EPA’s water pollution office. “Our goal was to try and simplify.”
He explained on a call with reporters that there are parts of the newly-proposed rule that are very similar to the Obama-era regulation. But the new Trump rule gives additional clarity to what does and doesn’t fall under Washington’s enforcement authority.
“The tributaries and adjacent wetlands, and maybe the ditches, is where the most significant differences are,” Ross said.
EPA acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler explained that Tuesday’s changes would replace the 2015 rule’s definition of a waterway with the intent of clarifying the extent of federal authority under the Clean Water Act.
“The agency’s proposal would replace the 2015 definition with a clearer and easier to understand definition that will result in significant cost savings, protect the nation’s navigable waterways, and reduce barriers to important economic and environmental projects,” Wheeler said on the call.
Tuesday’s announcement marks the second step in a two-step process initiated by President Trump nearly two years ago to rein in EPA’s authority to regulate bodies of water under the WOTUS rule. The first step was to conduct a thorough review of the Obama-era rule, and the second was to change the key definition of what constitutes a waterway.
The rule has been a thorn in the side of the GOP for years. They see the water regulation as a prime example of federal overreach and an affront to developers and energy producers.
The rule has made its way through a number of courts and has been halted on several occasions after being implemented. That’s why the Trump administration believes it has a strong legal case to modify the waterway definition and reverse EPA’s overreach.
The Obama administration’s definition “further expanded Washington’s reach into privately owned lands,” Wheeler said. “They claimed it was in the interest of water quality, but it was really about power — power in the hands of the federal government over landowners.”
For example, the Missouri Farm Bureau explained that over 95 percent of the state’s land area would come under EPA control if the rule’s definition of a waterway was not changed, Wheeler explained, even though Missouri and other states have their own rules in place to protect water quality.
“Under the 2015 rule, more landowners across the U.S. would need to apply for a federal permit to exercise control over their own property, a costly and time-consuming process that runs counter to our Republican idea of government,” Wheeler said.
The tweaked rule represents the first time that the EPA has defined the differences between federally protected wetlands and state-protected wetlands, Wheeler said. The new definition adheres to the legal limits set by Congress and upheld in the courts when it comes to the reach of the EPA.
“Our new, more precise definition, means that more hard-working Americans will spend less time and money determining whether they need a federal permit, and more time upgrading federal infrastructure, homes, creating jobs, and growing crops to feed our families,” Wheeler said.
The EPA will take comments on the new proposed definition for 60 days and hold a public hearing some time in the near future. Ross said he intends for the EPA to finalize the definition and implement it by the end of 2019.
