Biden moves to reinstitute water controls

The Biden administration took steps to restore federal protections for hundreds of thousands of small streams, wetlands and other waterways, undoing a Trumpera rule that was considered one of that administration’s hallmark environmental rollbacks.

At issue is a regulation sometimes referred to as “waters of the United States,” or WOTUS, that defines the types of waterways qualifying for federal protection under the Clean Water Act. The regulation has long been a point of contention among environmental groups, farmers, homebuilders, lawmakers and the courts.

The announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army reinstates a rule in place before 2015 while the Biden administration arrives at its own, which is expected to be next year.

The administration had said in June that it planned to repeal the Trump-era water rule and issue new regulations defining which waterways are federally protected under the Clean Water Act.

The Trump-era rule was long sought by builders, oil and gas developers, farmers and others who complained about the federal overreach of Obama administration restrictions that they said stretched into gullies, creeks and ravines on farmland and other private property.

Environmental groups and public health advocates say a strong federal rule is crucial to protect countless small streams, wetlands and other waterways that are vulnerable to pollution from development, industry and farms. The Trump-era rule resulted in an estimated 25% reduction in the number of streams and wetlands that are afforded federal protection, officials said.