EPA to limit wetland protections

Agency’s Republican administrator attacks what he calls ‘climate change religion.’

- By MATTHEW DALY

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday it is redefining the scope of the nation’s bedrock clean water law to significantly limit the wetlands it covers, building on a Supreme Court decision two years ago that removed federal protections for vast areas.

When finalized, the new “Waters of the United States” rule will ensure that federal jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act is focused on relatively permanent, standing or continuously flowing bodies of water, such as streams, oceans, rivers and lakes, along with wetlands that are directly connected to such bodies of water, the EPA said.

The proposal is among dozens of environmental regulations being rolled back by the Trump administration as part of what EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin says is a concerted effort to accelerate economic prosperity while putting “a dagger through the heart of climate change religion.” Critics call the water rule a giveaway to ranchers and industry.

At a news conference at agency headquarters, Zeldin said the new rule will fully implement the direction provided by the Supreme Court in a case known as Sackett vs. EPA. ‘The 2023 ruling sharply limited the federal government’s authority to police water pollution into certain wetlands, and boosted property rights over concerns about clean water in a ruling in favor of Michael and Chantell Sackett, an Idaho couple who sought to build a house near a lake.