• Water

Biden Administration Moves to Reverse Trump Rollbacks of Clean Water Act

• #30x30
• Clean Water Act
• rollback
• water pollution
• Waters of the U.S. Rule
• wetlands
• WOTUS

One more of the Trump administration’s rollbacks will meet its demise as EPA Administrator Michael Regan and the Biden administration are planning to reinstate protections for many marshes, streams, and wetlands — expanding again the coverage of the Clean Water Act under the “Waters of the U.S.” or “WOTUS” rule. 

Why This Matters: Since the late 1700s, 221 million acres of wetlands have been drained in the U.S. for agricultural use. This development has had severe consequences, including fertilizer and pollution runoff threatening drinking water for millions of people.

• Water

Trump Administration OKs Draining the Swamp — The Okefenokee Swamp

• Clean Water Act
• mining
• Okefenokee Swamp
• rollback
• swamp
• titanium
• water
• Wildlife Refuge
• WOTUS

Companies have been trying to mine near Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge for decades without success, but last August the Army Corps of Engineers determined that now it needs no federal Clean Water Act permit because there are no water bodies that are covered by the law that will be impacted. 

Why This Matters:  The president of Twin Pines claims that the mining operation won’t affect the swamp.

• Water

The Failings of Trump’s Navigable Waters Rule Laid Bare

• Center for Progressive Reform
• Clean Water Act
• Navigable Waters
• rollback
• Waters of the U.S. Rule
• wetlands
• WOTUS

By William Buzbee On Thursday, Science magazine published an article [abstract available, article itself behind paywall] I co-authored with a number of distinguished environmental science professors from around the country. In the article, we dissect President Trump’s newly implemented navigable waters rule and show the remarkable disregard for science that the Trump administration displayed in […]

• Water

Clean Water Protections Under President Trump Continue to Be Eroded

• clean water
• Clean Water Act
• regulations
• rollback
• safe drinking water
• WOTUS

The Trump Administration’s severe rollback of the Clean Water Act’s coverage went into effect yesterday with numerous non-profits and states vowing litigation, and Colorado has already successfully pushed back implementing the new rule.  In addition, last week the administration decided not to regulate a chemical used in rocket fuel that has been linked to developmental damage ans the Massachusetts state Department of Environmental Protection failed to send federal regulators reports about the safety of watersheds required by the Act, according to the state auditor.

Why This Matters:  There is not much left of the Clean Water Act with the Trump Administration at the helm of the so-called Environmental Protection Agency.

• Health

Trump’s Own Advisors Say Rule Rollbacks Buck Established Science

• clean cars
• EPA
• mercury
• rollbacks
• WOTUS

The Science Advisory Board of the Environmental Protection Agency, in a notice they buried with a New Year’s Eve publication, took issue with four significant rule rollbacks —  the Trump administration’s rewrite of an Obama’s definition of which waterways can be regulated, Obama’s clean car rule on tailpipe emissions, a proposal to weaken an Obama rule on toxic air pollutants including mercury, and a new regulation to limit scientific data that can be used to draft health regulations — saying that these rules “neglect established science” or contain “significant weaknesses in the scientific analysis.“

• Water

The Clean Water Act Has Been Drained

• clean water
• Clean Water Act
• PFAS
• WOTUS

By Monica Medina, Founder and Publisher, Our Daily Planet The fall of 2019 will be remembered for the Ukrainian scandal and the impeachment investigation.  But for many Americans, this should be remembered as the time when our nation’s clean water crisis became crystal clear.  This is not just a Flint problem.  It is a national […]