华盛顿拜登政府开始采取法律行动星期三废除一项特朗普时代结束联邦保护的规则数十万条小溪、湿地和其他水道，使它们更容易受到发展、工业和农场的污染。
规则有时被称为“美国水域”或WOTUS，它缩小了根据《洁净水法案》有资格获得联邦保护的水道类型。这是唐纳德·特朗普总统领导下的数百项环境和公共卫生法规中的一项，他说这些法规给企业带来了不必要的负担。
特朗普时代的规则于去年最终确定，长期以来一直受到建筑商、油气开发商、农民和其他人的青睐，他们抱怨联邦政府的过度扩张，称其延伸到农田和其他私人财产上的沟壑、小溪和沟壑。
环保组织和公共健康倡导者表示，特朗普政府批准的回滚使企业能够将污染物倾倒在未受保护的水道中，并填充一些湿地，威胁下游的公共供水，并损害野生动物和栖息地。负责土木工程的代理助理陆军部长詹姆·平克姆(Jaime Pinkham)表示，特朗普时代的规定导致获得联邦保护的河流和湿地数量减少了25%。
几十年来，用水规则一直是争论的焦点。环境保护署署长迈克尔·里根承诺颁布一项新规定，在保护水质的同时不会给小农带来过多负担。
乔·拜登总统上任第一周就下令审查特朗普规则，作为应对气候变化的更广泛行政行动的一部分。美国司法部(Justice Department)周三提交的法律文件开始了这一进程，因为美国环保局(EPA)和美国陆军部(Department of Army)正式要求废除特朗普时代的规则。
环保局在一份声明中说:“今天的行动反映了机构的意图，即启动一个新的规则制定过程，恢复2015年WOTUS实施之前的保护措施，并预计将制定一项新的规则”，界定哪些水域被认为属于联邦管辖范围。”
“我们致力于根据最高法院的先例并借鉴当前和以前的法规，为‘美国水域’建立一个持久的定义...所以我们可以更好地保护我们国家的水域，促进经济增长，支持繁荣的社区，”里根说。
陆军和环境保护局“将根据我们的技术专长制定一个规则，由我们的机构直接执行...并受到当地社区生活经验的影响。
拜登政府进行的一项审查确定，特朗普规则正在显著减少清洁水保护，特别是在新墨西哥州和亚利桑那州等干旱州，那里的大量河流现在缺乏联邦司法管辖。这些机构表示，至少有333个需要《洁净水法案》许可的项目不再需要联邦政府批准。
根据倡导组织南方环境法中心(Southern Environmental Law Center)的数据，特朗普时代的规定取消了对几个公共湖泊的保护，包括南卡罗来纳州的Keowee湖，这是一个为近40万人提供饮用水的水库。该规则还取消了陆军工程兵部队的管辖权该组织说，在佐治亚州的奥克弗诺基沼泽附近，有一个钛矿规划在大约400英亩的湿地上。
法律中心和其他环境组织对环保局的行动表示欢迎，并敦促官员们迅速采取行动，恢复对关键饮用水源的长期保护。
“这一有害的(特朗普时代)规则每天都在生效，它危及我们社区所依赖的水道。“这是不可接受的，现在必须停止，”保护选民联盟的立法副主任马德琳·福特说。
北达科他州参议员凯文·克莱默(Kevin Cramer)是一名共和党人，上周在里根访问该州期间接待了他。他说，拜登政府希望取消特朗普政府在制定“一项在法律范围内可行的政策”方面的良好工作，这是“一种耻辱”。''
克拉默说，北达科他州可能会在法庭上挑战拜登规则，“如果做得过火的话”。
环境保护局前职业律师凯文·米诺利(Kevin Minoli)表示，拜登团队面临着与奥巴马和特朗普政府相似的困境。“现在，问题变成了，‘他们能写出一个持续到他们任期结束后的定义吗?’”他说。
Biden moves to restore clean-water safeguards ended by Trump
WASHINGTON --The Biden administration began legal actionWednesday to repeal aTrump-era rule that ended federal protectionsfor hundreds of thousands of small streams, wetlands and other waterways, leaving them more vulnerable to pollution from development, industry and farms.
The rule— sometimes referred to as “waters of the United States” or WOTUS — narrowed the types of waterways that qualify for federal protection under the Clean Water Act. It was one of hundreds of rollbacks of environmental and public health regulations under President Donald Trump, who said the rules imposed unnecessary burdens on business.
The Trump-era rule, finalized last year, was long sought by builders, oil and gas developers, farmers and others who complained about federal overreach that they said stretched into gullies, creeks and ravines on farmland and other private property.
Environmental groups and public health advocates said the rollback approved under Trump has allowed businesses to dump pollutants into unprotected waterways and fill in some wetlands, threatening public water supplies downstream and harming wildlife and habitat. The Trump-era rule resulted in a 25% reduction in the number of streams and wetlands that are afforded federal protection, said Jaime Pinkham, acting assistant Army secretary for civil works.
The water rule has been a point of contention for decades. The Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Michael Regan, has pledged to issue a new rule that protects water quality while not overly burdening small farmers.
President Joe Biden ordered a review of the Trump rule as part of a broader executive action on climate change during his first week in office. Wednesday's legal filing by the Justice Department begins that process as the EPA and Department of the Army formally request repeal of the Trump-era rule.
“Today's action reflects the agencies’ intent to initiate a new rulemaking process that restores the protections in place prior to the 2015 WOTUS implementation, and anticipates developing a new rule'' that defines what waters are considered to be under federal jurisdiction, the EPA said in a statement.
“We are committed to establishing a durable definition of ‘waters of the United States’ based on Supreme Court precedent and drawing from current and previous regulations ... so we can better protect our nation’s waters, foster economic growth and support thriving communities,'' Regan said.
The Army and EPA “will develop a rule that is informed by our technical expertise, is straightforward to implement by our agencies ... and is shaped by the lived experience of local communities,” Pinkham said.
A review conducted by the Biden administration determined that the Trump rule is significantly reducing clean water protections, particularly in arid states such as New Mexico and Arizona, where a large number of streams now lack federal jurisdiction. At least 333 projects that would have required Clean Water Act permits no longer need federal approval, the agencies said.
The Trump-era rule removed protections from several public lakes, including Lake Keowee in South Carolina, a reservoir that provides drinking water for nearly 400,000 people, according to the Southern Environmental Law Center, an advocacy group. The rule alsoremoved Army Corps of Engineers jurisdictionfrom about 400 acres of wetlands where a titanium mine is planned near Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp, the group said.
The law center and other environmental groups hailed the EPA action and urged officials to move quickly to restore long-standing protections for critical drinking water sources.
"Every day this harmful (Trump-era) rule is in effect, it endangers the waterways our communities depend on. That is unacceptable and must stop now,'' said Madeleine Foote, deputy legislative director for the League of Conservation Voters.
North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer, a Republican who hosted Regan during a visit to his state last week, said it was “a shame the Biden administration wants to undo the good work of the Trump administration'' in developing “a workable policy that falls within the confines of the law.''
North Dakota is likely to challenge the Biden rule in court “in the event of overreach,” Cramer said.
Kevin Minoli, a former career lawyer at EPA, said the Biden team faces a similar dilemma to the Obama and Trump administrations. “Now, the question becomes, ‘Can they write a definition that will last beyond their time in office?’ ” he said.
