Clean Water Act Jurisdiction

Key Group Suggests Broad Advice For Narrowing WOTUS After Sackett

The free-market law firm Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) is offering the Trump administration a host of recommendations for how it can narrow the Biden administration’s definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) to comply with the Supreme Court’s Sackett v. EPA decision. In April 1 comments to EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers, the group, which successfully litigated the Sackett case on behalf of the Idaho petitioners, provides a roadmap for the agencies to narrow important...

NRDC Finds ‘Catastrophic’ Wetlands Losses After Court’s Sackett Ruling

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is warning of “catastrophic” wetlands’ losses in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Sackett decision narrowing the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS), while warning of even further losses should the Trump administration adopt industry-backed measures that would further limit jurisdiction. NRDC published a new report on March 24 highlighting the “catastrophic loss” of federal protections for wetlands in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Sackett v. EPA...

Water Nominee Says WOTUS Ambiguities Remain As EPA Weighs Rule

Jessica Kramer, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead EPA’s water office, told members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) that officials have yet to decide whether to conduct a full rulemaking process to revise the Biden-era “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule, while acknowledging that some ambiguities remain. Kramer, a former staffer on EPW, emphasized during her March 26 confirmation hearing that the Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. EPA was “prescriptive” around a number...

Observers Expect WOTUS Redo To Be More ‘Focused’ Than Other Rollbacks

Legal experts expect the Trump EPA’s plans to revise and likely roll back the Biden administration’s rule defining “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) to be “more focused” than some of the administration’s other regulatory rollback efforts given the Supreme Court’s direction in Sackett v. EPA . “In many ways, the rulemaking reform that the administration is going to embark on here is a lot more focused than virtually any of the other ones that it may be contemplating because...

EPA Issues Guide Narrowing WOTUS’ Reach Ahead Of Regulatory Overhaul

EPA is issuing guidance narrowing the Biden-era definition of when a wetland has a “continuous surface connection” to a “water of the United States” (WOTUS) and is thus jurisdictional, seeking to align it with its view of the high court’s decision in Sackett ahead of plans for a broader and more “durable” overhaul of the WOTUS policy. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said during a March 12 announcement of the guidance that the agency will pursue a “definition that is...

Federal Register Notice

New WOTUS Guidance


California Bill Seeks To Restore State CWA Reach Prior To Sackett, Trump

A California lawmaker is pushing legislation that would expand the reach of the state’s Clean Water Act to include waterbodies that are no longer subject to federal jurisdiction under the Supreme Court’s Sackett decision as well as expected rollbacks of federal discharge rules under the Trump administration. “The Right to Clean Water Act would reinstate longstanding federal Clean Water Act [CWA] protections into California state law to maintain protections California enjoyed for over 50 years while buttressing against future...

Lawyers See Narrow WOTUS Rulings Bolstering Potential Trump Rollbacks

Legal experts are pointing to myriad federal court decisions narrowly interpreting the Supreme Court’s Sackett v. EPA ruling in as-applied challenges to jurisdictional determinations under the Biden administration’s “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule as potentially bolstering any efforts by the Trump administration to roll back the rule. “What you’re seeing in these cases is a shift in the law toward a more restrictive view about what’s regulated based on Sackett ,” Neil McAliley, a litigation and environmental...

New Petitions Set Path For Trump EPA To Revise Biden-Era CWA Rules

The Institute for Energy Research (IER), a group that advocates for free energy markets, is formally petitioning the Trump administration to review and revise three Biden-era Clean Water Act (CWA) rules, setting a path for the agency to revise contested measures governing the law’s reach and states’ ability to certify federal projects. IER submitted the three petitions to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin on Feb. 18, seeking to “achieve the president’s objective of unlocking American energy potential,” by calling for review...

GAO Urges Corps To Bolster 404 Transparency As Trump Speeds Permitting

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is urging the Army Corps of Engineers to strengthen transparency regarding the use of expedited permit processing for Clean Water Act (CWA) section 404 dredge-and-fill projects, just as the Trump administration is requiring the Corps to use “emergency powers” to expedite permitting. GAO issued a Jan. 29 report titled “Army Corps of Engineers: Expedited Permitting Process Would Benefit from More Transparency.” The report details the Corps’ authority to expedite permit processing for some nonfederal entities...

EPA’s Final 404 Permit Rule Drops Wetland Boundary In Face Of Criticisms

EPA’s final rule clarifying procedures for states and tribes to oversee Clean Water Act (CWA) section 404 dredge-and-fill permits has scrapped a controversial draft plan that would have established an administrative federal boundary through adjacent wetlands, a win for numerous critics, who warned the approach was arbitrary, impractical and would limit federal oversight. “EPA did not finalize its proposed approach to administrative boundaries. The default understanding is that the Corps would retain administrative authority over all jurisdictional wetlands “adjacent” to...

EPA Issues Final CWA 404 Assumption Rule Amid Likely Trump Battles

EPA has issued its first-time final rule aimed at streamlining and clarifying the procedures for states and authorized tribes to assume and administer the Clean Water Act (CWA) section 404 dredge-and-fill permitting program, though the measure faces an uphill battle given a likely effort from the incoming Trump administration to roll it back. EPA Administrator Michael Regan signed the final rule on Dec. 10, and it will go into effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register . “The...

Final Rule

Fact Sheet


Trump EPA Pick Eyes Guidance To Clarify WOTUS’ Scope, Sen. Ricketts Says

Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) says President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead EPA told him he plans to issue guidance to clarify the scope of EPA’s jurisdiction over Waters of the United States (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act (CWA), saying such clarification is needed to help landowners determine their regulatory and permitting requirements. Responding to a question from Inside EPA , Ricketts told reporters after a Nov. 4 meeting with former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) that Trump’s EPA administrator nominee-designate...

House Republicans Renew WOTUS Concerns, Citing Delayed Permits, AJDs

House Republicans are renewing their concerns that EPA is not implementing its amended “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule in accordance with the Supreme Court’s Sackett decision, pointing to additional uncertainty from delays in processing permit applications and approved jurisdictional determinations (AJDs). Their concerns, spelled out in an Oct. 31 letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan and Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Michael Connor, echo charges from GOP state and industry groups. They are arguing...

Industry Cites ‘Bright Line’ Sackett-Test Ruling In WOTUS Challenges

Industry groups challenging the Biden administration’s final “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule are pointing to a magistrate judge’s recent recommendation finding that the Supreme Court’s Sackett decision requires an adjacent wetland to have both a continuous surface connection and be indistinguishable to adjacent WOTUS. The recommendation from Magistrate Judge Shaniek Mills Maynard of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida is significant because it affirms critics’ arguments that EPA and the Army Corps of...

EPA sends final CWA 404 ‘assumption’ rule for OMB review

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has begun interagency review of EPA’s final rule revising the process for state and tribal governments to assume delegated authority over Clean Water Act (CWA) section 404 dredge-and-fill permits -- a measure that could rework a range of provisions that states and tribes say pose barriers to assumption. EPA sent its final CWA assumption rule for review on Sept. 19, according to OMB’s website , over a year after floating a...

Industry Faces Significant Uncertainty Amid Lack Of EPA WOTUS Guidance

Farm and building industry groups are telling House lawmakers of widespread uncertainty as a result of EPA’s failure to issue guidance implementing its amended “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule and are urging Congress to codify the high court’s Sackett decision that narrowed WOTUS’ reach and clearly define terms laid out in the ruling. EPA’s failure to provide clear direction to the public on WOTUS “is creating significant uncertainty on the ground and delaying important projects,” Courtney Briggs...

Citing Elevated JDs, States Raise WOTUS Challenges Ahead Of Hearing

A coalition of Republican attorneys general (AGs) is raising concerns over the Biden administration’s final “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule ahead of a House hearing on state implementation post- Sackett , citing a growing number of jurisdictional determinations (JDs) that have been elevated to agencies’ headquarters for review. “The Agencies’ ‘conforming’ rule has not conformed to Sackett in many serious and substantial ways,” the coalition of 24 state AGs, led by West Virgnia AG Patrick Morrisey, says...

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