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TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PLANS TO GUT WATER PROTECTIONS NATIONWIDE
Polluted Water Rule would strip safeguards from tens of millions of acres of wetlands and countless streams.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced plans to strip Clean Water Act protections from millions of acres of wetlands and potentially millions of miles of streams across the country. The proposed rule would dramatically narrow which waters are covered by federal safeguards, leaving many wetlands and headwaters vulnerable to pollution and destruction.
The Clean Water Act (CWA) establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters. The basis of the CWA was enacted in 1948 and was called the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, but the Act was significantly reorganized and expanded in 1972. "Clean Water Act" became the Act's common name with amendments in 1972.
Under the CWA, EPA has implemented pollution control programs such as setting wastewater standards for industry. EPA has also developed national water quality criteria recommendations for pollutants in surface waters.
Summary of the Clean Water Act
Background:
The EPA’s new proposed rule sharply narrows which wetlands and streams are protected under the Clean Water Act. The proposed rule would limit federal safeguards only to wetlands that hold surface water during the “wet season” and directly touch a water body like a river or stream that has continuous water flowing or standing during that “wet season.”
This approach excludes many critical wetlands and seasonal streams—waters that are essential for drinking water supplies, flood control, and ecosystem health.
These waters are vital for filtering drinking water, reducing flood and drought risks, and sustaining wildlife, but under the planned rule, many of them would no longer be protected.
National Research Defense Council 2025 GIS Analysis
NRDC’s 2025 GIS analysis found that between 38 million and 70 million acres of wetlands are at risk of pollution or destruction under modeled scenarios similar to the changes the proposal includes.
“This is a reckless giveaway to polluters,” says Andrew Wetzler, senior vice president, Nature, at NRDC.
“By gutting protections for wetlands and streams, the EPA is trying to disown its legal obligation to protect our drinking water and our communities. For the millions of Americans who swim or fish in our nation’s rivers and lakes, this is a bracing slap in the face. Wetlands are nature’s safeguard against flooding, and stripping away protections for them puts millions of people in harm’s way. At a time when climate change is fueling stronger storms and worsening floods, taking away these protections is not just shortsighted—it’s dangerous.”
“The EPA’s proposal is an extreme and unscientific exploitation of an already extreme and unscientific Supreme Court ruling,” says Jon Devine, director of freshwater ecosystems at NRDC.
“Erasing protections for wetlands and streams that clearly affect downstream water quality and community safety ignores decades of hydrological science and will create regulatory chaos, leaving businesses, farmers, and communities with less certainty while exposing waters to more pollution.”
“Instead of undermining the Clean Water Act, the EPA should be building durable, science-based safeguards that honor both the law and the realities of how water moves across the landscape,” Devine says.
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