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A 2023 #SCOTUS decision set the stage for the action by limiting the agency’s power to police #wetlands. In the opinion in Sackett v. EPA, Justice #Alito wrote that the #CleanWaterAct allowed the #EPA to regulate only wetlands with a “continuous surface connection” to a “relatively permanent” body of #water.
But he did not explicitly define a “relatively permanent” body of water. Now, the #Trump admin is describing it as a body of water that flows year-round or during the “wet season.”
It was a victory for a range of business interests that have lobbied to scale back the #CleanWaterAct of 1972, including farmers, home builders, real estate developers, #oil drillers & #petrochemical manufacturers.
…Under the #CleanWater Act, companies & individuals must obtain a permit from the #EPA before releasing #pollutants into the nation’s #waterways. They must receive a permit from the US Army Corps of Engineers.…
A 2023 #SCOTUS decision set the stage for the action by limiting the agency’s power to police #wetlands. In the opinion in Sackett v. EPA, Justice #Alito wrote that the #CleanWaterAct allowed the #EPA to regulate only wetlands with a “continuous surface connection” to a “relatively permanent” body of #water.
But he did not explicitly define a “relatively permanent” body of water. Now, the #Trump admin is describing it as a body of water that flows year-round or during the “wet season.”
The new definition would exclude #wetlands that abut or touch many intermittent #streams, which do not flow during dry periods. It also could exclude ephemeral streams, which sit dry for much of the year & fill up only after rainfall or snowmelt.
These changes could strip federal #protections from up to 55 million acres of wetlands, or about 85% of wetlands nationwide, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group.
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