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The Trump administration is proposing drastic changes to the definition of "waters of the US" (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act, significantly limiting the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to prevent pollution and destruction of wetlands and streams. Around 80 percent of known wetlands in the contiguous US would lose protections under the proposal, according to an impact analysis conducted by the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers.
“It's probably the most limiting, the most narrow, interpretation of the reach of jurisdiction that I’ve seen so far,” Larry Liebesman, a former Justice Department attorney, told E&E News.
The Supreme Court's ruling in Sackett v. EPA in 2023 limited the Clean Water Act's scope to wetlands with a continuous surface connection to a "relatively permanent" body of water. The Trump administration's proposed definition requires wetlands to contain surface water for at least the "wet season" to be considered WOTUS, while streams must possess a "bed and banks." In Arizona, for example, only 2.4 percent of wetlands would likely be covered under the Trump proposal.
After the proposal is published in the Federal Register, the EPA will solicit public comments for 45 days before finalizing the rule.
Utah announces plan to build 'nuclear hub'
Utah Governor Spencer Cox unveiled plans Monday to build a nuclear energy hub in Brigham City. The initiative includes a training center and a manufacturing plant to produce components for small modular reactors (SMRs), with at least two reactors proposed in the area. The effort is part of Cox’s “Operation Gigawatt” to increase energy production in Utah. A fully operational nuclear power plant wouldn't emerge until the early 2030s under the plan.
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After Kathleen Sgamma withdrew from consideration earlier this year, the president could have selected a capable Westerner with bipartisan credibility. Instead, he chose a man whose chief qualification appears to be an unbroken record of losing.”
