EPA Issues Final Rule Significantly Narrowing Water Act’s Jurisdiction

The Trump administration has issued its final rule significantly narrowing the universe of waters subject to protection under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The final measure , a long-time priority of the Trump administration, largely echoes the proposed version issued by EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers in 2018, prioritizing “categorical bright lines” to divide waterbodies subject to federal jurisdiction from those being left to the states. It excludes ephemeral waterbodies and rejects case-by-case analysis of a “significant nexus”...