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Balanced Reporting. Trusted Insights.
Friday, April 11, 2025
Another federal court has found the 2015 “waters of the U.S.” rule legally deficient, but language in the ruling could add another layer of controversy to the Trump administration's efforts to rewrite the rule.
The Trump administration’s proposed new definition of “Waters of the United States” in the Clean Water Act is either a radical policy shift that misinterprets Supreme Court precedent and will leave up to 70 percent of tributaries and half the nation’s wetlands unprotected, or it’s a constitutionally valid approach to regulating the nation’s waters that preserves the states’ lead role over water pollution control and land use planning.
Groups interested in the EPA/Army Corps of Engineers’ proposal to rewrite the definition of “waters of the United States” — and there are many — are struggling to get a handle on its impacts.
President Donald Trump assured farmers struggling through a prolonged economic slump that better times are ahead for U.S. agriculture because of his efforts to lower trade barriers to American exports and roll back regulations.
President Donald Trump has nominated Andrew Wheeler to be the administrator of the EPA, offering him a chance to lose the acting title and lead the agency on a full-time basis.
In the regulatory picture for 2019, the top issue for aggies is probably the “waters of the United States” proposal, but there are many other items on the agenda for agriculture in the coming year.
Many areas covered by the Obama administration’s “waters of the U.S.” rule would be removed from federal oversight under a proposal released today by the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers.
The Environmental Protection Agency continues to estimate that it will have a new WOTUS rule by next September, but meeting that target date may be difficult. The timeline is according to the government's latest agenda for regulatory action.
Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler visited with government officials and agribusiness leaders during a closed-door session Monday, talking about the RFS and WOTUS.
If the “waters of the United States” rule became law, it would “freeze up” the use of farmland as landowners try to determine “whether every minor drainage ditch, dry arroyo, and nearby puddle is covered by the Clean Water Act,” farm groups said in an amicus brief filed in federal court in North Dakota.
