FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 6, 2026
CONTACT:
Aaron Bharucha, Public Relations Associate
(509) 429-1699 and epn-press@environmentalprotectionnetwork.org
EPN Urges Trump EPA to Halt Proposed WOTUS Rule That Weakens Protections, Ignores Science and Puts Public Health at Risk
Washington, D.C. — This week, the Environmental Protection Network (EPN) submitted comments opposing the Trump Administration’s proposed definition of “Waters of the United States,” which was established to protect America’s rivers and streams and, ultimately, the well-being of communities. EPN urges the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to abandon this damaging proposal and instead rely on the 2023 Conforming Rule, which already addresses the Sackett decision. EPN is also calling on EPA and USACE to work proactively with states and Tribes to fill the gaps in water resource protection created by Sackett.
“This rule defies the Clean Water Act and well-established science, putting the health and welfare of the American people at risk,” said Peter Murchie, EPN Senior Director for Policy and a former EPA Puget Sound National Program Office Branch Manager. “Finalizing it would roll back decades of progress, remove protections from most wetlands and millions of miles of streams, and increase pollution, flooding, and costs nationwide. EPA exists to protect our water, not make it easier for polluters to harm natural resources we depend on.”
“The decades of research and billions of dollars spent monitoring and protecting water quality in this country will be reversed if this rule is finalized as proposed,” EPN wrote in their comments. “This rule will result in the loss of CWA protections for most of the wetlands in the country and millions of miles of streams. This in turn will dramatically increase pollution raising the costs of wastewater and drinking water treatment for communities, increase flooding exacerbating property damages, and destroy habitat eliminating hunting and fishing uses.”
Key Takeaways From EPN’s Comments
- EPN warns the proposed rule would gut what remains of Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction, resulting in a minimal scope that will prevent achievement of the act’s goal to protect the physical, chemical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters.
- EPN urges the agencies to abandon this damaging proposed rule, rely on the 2023 Conforming Rule (called the Amended 2023 Rule in the proposal), and work proactively with states and Tribes to fill the gaps in water protection created by Sackett.
- The proposed “bright line” definitions of relatively permanent flow and continuous surface connection rely heavily on the ambiguous concept of a “wet season,” are scientifically indefensible, and will invite endless litigation over case-specific jurisdictional determinations. Decades of research and field experience show that multiple lines of evidence are necessary to determine whether a stream or wetland must be protected under the Clean Water Act, consistent with the Sackett decision.
- EPA and the Army Corps lack a sufficient basis to claim that the proposed rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, and EPN believes they have not conducted a meaningful assessment of small business impacts under the RFA.
- EPN finds that the RIA analysis focuses so heavily on cost savings from reduced permitting and regulatory requirements that it fails to adequately account for the direct and indirect environmental costs, as well as the shift in responsibility and costs to states and Tribes that may take on the program to protect their resources.
- EPN believes the agencies must consider the impacts of activities in jurisdictional waters, because jurisdictional status is key to restoring and maintaining the physical, chemical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters by ensuring regulatory review.
At a hearing in December, Dr. Betsy Southerland, an EPN volunteer and the former Director of Science & Technology in EPA’s Office of Water warned that the proposed rule ignores the real-world consequences: more flooding, more toxic runoff, higher water bills, and the loss of places families fish, swim and enjoy everyday.
Prior to today’s comments, EPN submitted comments requesting a 15-day extension to the WOTUS rule’s 45-day comment period, citing timing constraints and the proposal’s significant impacts on Clean Water Act protections and public review needs. Despite the comprehensive time needed for review, EPA did not grant the additional time necessary for communities to weigh in. Nonetheless, EPN worked closely with its volunteer experts to ensure thorough, science-based comments were submitted within the limited timeframe.
Read the full set of comments submitted by EPN
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Founded in 2017, the Environmental Protection Network harnesses the expertise of more than 650 former EPA career staff and confirmation-level appointees from Democratic and Republican administrations to provide the unique perspective of former scientists and regulators with decades of historical and subject matter knowledge.