The Trump administration has proposed to take away federal wetlands protections as workforce shrinks by 17%
The federal environmental watchdog is slashing jobs whereas transferring to sharply restrict the scope of federal waterway protections—two actions will seemingly have an effect on wildlife and wetland habitats.
The U.S. Environmental Safety Company’s (EPA) newly proposed “Waters of america” (WOTUS) definition within the Clear Water Act will redefine which wetlands and waterways qualify for federal oversight.
WOTUS are protected underneath the Clear Water Act, which requires federal permits for pollutant discharges and for dredge-and-fill actions that would degrade these waters.
The 2023 Sackett v. EPA ruling restricted the federal authorities’s authority by narrowing which wetlands and streams fall underneath the Clear Water Act, requiring {that a} wetland be “indistinguishably half” of a bigger water physique. The company asserts that the proposed rule is extra consistent with the Supreme Courtroom’s Sackett v. EPA choice. The proposed WOTUS definition refocuses federal jurisdiction underneath the Clear Water Act on comparatively everlasting, standing, or constantly flowing our bodies of water, similar to streams, oceans, rivers, and lakes, in addition to wetlands instantly linked to them. It additionally proposes:
- That jurisdictional tributaries should connect with conventional navigable waters both “instantly or by way of different options that present predictable and constant stream,” eradicating these that don’t meet the continuous-surface-connection take a look at.
- The usage of phrases like “moist season” to assist resolve whether or not a water physique qualifies underneath WOTUS.
- Reductions within the variety of permafrost wetlands eligible for federal safety
The proposed modifications to the definition are meant to supply readability and consistency. If handed, the rule modifications will restrict the wetlands and briefly flowing waters that obtain safety underneath the Clear Water Act, with potential implications for wildlife depending on these sources of water. The company printed the proposed rule on November 20, 2025, and will settle for public feedback till January 4, 2026. The companies will maintain two in-person public conferences, with an possibility for digital participation which will probably be posted on-line.
EPA employees cuts
At a second when the Administration is restructuring analysis places of work and tightening its regulatory attain, it raises questions concerning the EPA’s capability to implement coverage just like the Clear Water Act amid upheaval.
The proposed rule arrives because the federal authorities is implementing one of the important workforce shake-ups in its historical past. Greater than 2,600 company staff have accepted the Administration’s “Fork within the Highway program,” which supplies federal employees the choice of deferred resignation. Greater than 17% of the company’s employees has left or will go away, mirroring a broader lack of 154,000 federal employees as a part of the Administration’s mass resignation plan to cut back the federal authorities’s payroll.
Concurrently, the Workplace of Analysis and Improvement closed on October 3, and the EPA launched the brand new, smaller Workplace of Utilized Science and Environmental Options.
It stays to be seen if a leaner EPA can uphold the Clear Water Act as its jurisdiction narrows.
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