Senate Democrats blast Zeldin's EPA over proposal to roll back federal water protections

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) and 15 other Senate Democrats took aim at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday. They said the agency’s plan to limit federal water protections ignores science and threatens drinking water for millions of Americans. In a letter sent on January 28 to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and Army Corps of Engineers Assistant Secretary Adam Telle, they rebuked a proposed “Waters of the United States” rule. Unveiled in November, the WOTUS proposal limits which waterways fall under the Clean Water Act’s federal jurisdiction, thereby eliminating protections for wetlands and temporary streams. “The Trump administration is once again ignoring the science and shifting the cost of pollution onto families and communities, all to benefit big corporations,” Gillibrand said. According to her coalition, the states will have to foot the bill for enforcing environmental protections, with utility customers disproportionately bearing the cost of improving water quality. The government would redefine “relatively permanent” waters as those that are “standing or continuously flowing year-round or at least during the wet season.” Wetlands would only receive federal protection when they physically touch a larger, protected body of water and can maintain surface water. That redefinition would exclude wetlands separated by dry land and man-made barriers, or those that only fill during storms. “Ephemeral” streams or vernal pools that only exist seasonally or after rainfall are also left out. Other technical changes include removing “interstate waters” as a protected category, so a lake or stream that crosses state lines wouldn’t be automatically federally protected. Also excluded would be farmland developed before 1985, ditches constructed on dry land, and groundwater. Telle has said the changes would provide “durable regulatory certainty” that Americans deserve. Former New York lawmaker Zeldin agreed, framing the new policy as providing clarity for landowners, farmers, and entrepreneurs struggling with shifting regulations. “We heard from Americans across the country who want clean water and a clear rule. No longer should America’s landowners be forced to spend precious money hiring an attorney or consultant just to tell them whether a Water of the United States is on their property,” Zeldin said in November. “EPA is delivering on President Trump’s promise to finalize a revised definition for WOTUS that protects the nation’s navigable waters from pollution, advances cooperative federalism by empowering states, and will result in economic growth across the country.” Indeed, the proposal earned support from the business community, particularly the agricultural sector. American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said the organization was glad the rule “finally addresses those concerns and takes steps to provide much-needed clarity.” The administration maintains that new rules would align with the Supreme Court’s 2023 “Sackett vs. EPA” ruling that narrowed federal authority. But the letter signed by Gillibrand contends that the rollback goes too far. They argued that deregulating waterways upstream just protects polluters by forcing flood management and pollution cleanup onto municipalities and taxpayers with inadequate resources. They compared ephemeral streams and wetlands as capillaries and kidneys filtering the nation’s water. And they cited an EPA estimate that only 19% of non-tidal wetlands would remain under federal protection if the policy were put into practice. “The proposed rule is legally unnecessary, scientifically unsound, and will harm public and environmental health by allowing more harmful chemicals into our waterways,” Gillibrand and the other senators wrote. Check out their letter below, written by Senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Angela Alsobrooks and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden of Oregon, Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff of California, and Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island: Schiff-EPA-DOD-WOTUS-proposal-letter-1Download Macaulay Culkin honors on-screen mom Catherine O’Hara: ‘I thought we had time’ Senate Democrats blast Zeldin’s EPA over proposal to roll back federal water protections Former Google engineer convicted of selling AI trade secrets Live updates: Senate sets up vote on funding package Newsom files a civil rights complaint against Dr. Oz over accusations against LA Armenian community