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FIRST ON FOX: EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin will announce on Monday an update to the widely criticized Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule, a regulation that in one case resulted in an Idaho couple facing a potential fine of $33,000 a day for building a home on “soggy” land.
WOTUS was developed under the Nixon administration under the Clean Water Act to regulate and protect wetlands, expand the definition of “navigable waters,” and protect public health, before the Obama and Biden administrations extended their influence to places where landowners feared the EPA could swoop in at any moment and usurp control of their lands.
“When it comes to defining 'waters of the United States,' the Environmental Protection Agency has an important responsibility to protect water resources while establishing clear and practical rules that accelerate economic growth and opportunity,” Zeldin said in a statement.
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Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin of New York speaks before Congress. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
The Obama Administration greatly expanded the definitions of WOTUS before the Trump Administration relaxed some of these new rules, which The Biden Administration Has Significantly Expanded Again federal jurisdiction over areas of land that may include ephemeral streams and low-lying areas prone to natural water accumulation that can be found to have a “significant connection” with navigable waters.
The Environmental Protection Agency said Monday that the new rule, based on a court ruling in favor of angry landowners, produces another result. Trump Administration Promise provide regulatory clarity while protecting America's waterways.
The rule, co-written by Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle, will provide long-term economic relief to farmers and ranchers who have wondered for years whether a simple “puddle” could be used. [could] call for federal permits” and energy producers fear “regulatory quicksand“
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The EPA said Americans joined nine “listening sessions” and collectively said the same thing – that WOTUS needs clear, reasonable parameters that balance environmental protection with the ability to farm, ranch, homestead and energy speculate.
The rule would define regulatory terms such as “relatively permanent” (in the case of waterways), “influx,” and align the scope of the rule with the original intent of the Nixon era.
A canoe rests in shallow water at the Lake Mudro access point at Boundary Waters Canoe Area on October 7, 2005, near Ely, Minnesota. (Jeffrey Phelps/Getty Images)
For a tiny tributary to be considered under federal jurisdiction, it must have a continuous supply to navigable waters, and wetlands under the auspices of the Environmental Protection Agency must be one that retains surface water for the required period each year.
The rule includes new exceptions for groundwater and runoff, land that was previously covered by agricultural crops, and efforts to promote rights of state and tribal governments and for local township leaders to make permitting decisions in the areas they know best.
“Democratic administrations have weaponized the designation of navigable waters to seize more power from American farmers, landowners, businesses and families,” Zeldin said.
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“We heard from Americans across the country that they want clean water and clear regulations. American landowners should no longer be forced to spend precious money hiring an attorney or consultant just to tell them whether United States water is on their property.”
Farmers, homesteaders and energy producers warned that the earlier, broader definition gave the Environmental Protection Agency broad authority to declare even puddles or drainage culverts under federal control rather than local oversight.
Matters came to a head when Michael Sackett and his wife Chantell successfully applied for the necessary local permits to build a “modest” home near Priest Lake, a tourist spot in Idaho Panhandle.
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Then-President Joe Biden speaks with then-Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Once the construction crew began spreading gravel on the so-called “wet” site near other homes, Obama's Environmental Protection Agency pounced on them and threatened them with fines of nearly $33,000 a day for continuing the project, according to to Bloomberg — or face potential six-figure costs to apply for the proper permits, which reports say the agency itself has proposed would ultimately be denied, according to multiple reports.
The Sacketts family sued and the case was ultimately decided unanimously. Supreme Court decision in their favor in 2023.
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“[O]only those wetlands and waters that have a continuous surface connection with bodies that are themselves waters of the United States,” the judges wrote.
The decision forced the Biden administration to narrow the rule's language to accommodate court order — which the Trump administration has reduced and clarified with this statement.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., rebutted the decision, saying, “The MAGA Supreme Court continues to undermine our nation's environmental laws.”
“Make no mistake—this decision will mean even more water pollution and even more destruction of wetlands,” Schumer said.
