Trump aims to remove waterway protections, aiding developers
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration appears ready to move ahead with its plan to remove protections for some of the nation’s millions of miles of streams, wetlands and arroyos, completing one of its most far-reaching environmental rollbacks.
The changes, promised by President Donald Trump in his first weeks in office, would sharply scale back the government’s interpretation of which waterways qualify for protection against pollution and development under the half-century-old Clean Water Act. Trump says he is targeting federal rules and regulations that impose unnecessary burdens on businesses.
An announcement on a final rule was expected as soon as Thursday.
The changes had been sought by industry, developers and farmers, but opposed by environmental advocates and public health officials. They say the changes would make it harder to maintain a clean water supply for the American public and would threaten habitat and wildlife.
The administration says the changes would allow farmers to plow their fields without fear of unintentionally straying over the banks of a federally protected dry creek, bog or ditch. But the government’s own figures show it is real estate developers and those in other nonfarm business sectors that take out the most permits for impinging on wetlands and waterways, and stand to reap the biggest regulatory and financial relief.
A draft version of the rule released earlier would end federal oversight for up to half of the nation’s wetlands, which provide buffers against flooding and climate change, and one-fifth of the country’s streams, the upstream sources of drinking water, environmental groups warned.
https://apnews.com/2386f9f4af34d81ae32629dead464af3
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