U.S. EPA To Repeal And Replace Trump-Era Water Rule
The U.S. EPA has announced that it will revise a rule established during the Trump administration clarifying which source water bodies should receive federal protection from pollution.
“The rule — sometimes referred to as ‘waters of the United States’ or WOTUS — narrowed the types of waterways that qualify for federal protection under the Clean Water Act,” the Associated Press reported. “It was one of hundreds of rollbacks of environmental and public health regulations under President Donald Trump, who said the rules imposed unnecessary burdens on business.”
WOTUS replaced an Obama administration rule seeking to protect more source water from pollution. It was controversial, as agricultural and industrial advocates argued that it was federal overreach while environmental groups argued that it gave businesses undue leniency to contaminate drinking water sources. In its decision to revise the rule, the EPA appears to be siding with the latter groups.
“EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement that the Trump administration policy had led to ‘significant environmental degradation,’” according to CNBC. “The EPA and the Army said they discovered that the Trump rule significantly reduced clean water protections, a major issue as the U.S. West grapples with a severe drought and water supply shortages.”
However, Regan has announced that the EPA will not return to the Obama era version of the rule, noting that both it and the Trump version were imperfect. It was not immediately clear how a new rule will differ from either, but during a hearing at the U.S. Senate, Regan offered some insight into his goals for the revision.
“What I’m committed to is engaging with the secretary of [agriculture], with the Army Corps of Engineers, with the agriculture community and with the communities that are impacted in congress to best understand, how do we have a long-term, durable solution and not continue to have to ping-pong it back and forth,” he said, per The Hill.
It’s likely that a fixed rule, which incorporates the desires of all major stakeholders and lasts multiple presidential administrations, is hoped for by everyone involved. But it may be difficult to establish such a version of the rule.
In any case, water systems across the country are certainly eager for a conclusive regulation governing source water pollution protection to appear.
To read more about the laws that govern source water quality, visit Water Online’s Regulations And Legislation Solutions Center.