The Biden administration has rolled out in a final what it says is a “durable” definition of “waters of the U.S.” (WOTUS), potentially capping a legal and political battle that has raged for nearly two decades.
The final rule issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of the Army on Dec. 30 returns to a framework founded on a pre-2015 Bush-era definition with updates to reflect existing Supreme Court decisions. “It establishes limits that appropriately draw the boundary of waters subject to federal protection,” the EPA said Friday.
