Politics & Government
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency and Department of the Army announced a supplemental proposal seeking more public input on the definition of “waters of the United States,” the phrase that determines the reach of major Clean Water Act programs.
The agencies say the supplemental notice will present additional regulatory language alongside their 2025 proposal and will remain open for comment for 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. That is a proposal and comment window—not a final rule, permit decision or immediate change in landowner obligations.
The definition has practical consequences for wetlands, streams, farms, construction, energy projects and tribal or state water programs. The Supreme Court's 2023 Sackett decision narrowed the federal wetlands test, leaving agencies to translate the opinion into regulatory language that can survive litigation and work in field decisions.
Ruby's red-tape checklist starts with the docket. The agencies previously held three public meetings and received more than 220,000 comments during a 45-day period that closed in January. The new notice is limited to added alternatives; it does not erase the earlier record or guarantee which option will appear in the final rule.
EPA presents the process as transparency and cooperative federalism. Regulated industries, environmental organizations, states and tribes are likely to disagree over where federal jurisdiction should stop and whether proposed language protects water quality without exceeding Sackett.
The next dates are Federal Register publication, the 30-day deadline and any final-rule schedule. Commenters will have the strongest record when they address the actual regulatory text, legal authority, implementation costs and water-quality effects rather than treating a supplemental notice as a completed policy.
Evidence ledger — confirmed: EPA and the Army announced a supplemental WOTUS proposal and a future 30-day comment period. Characterized or alleged: The agencies say added alternatives will better implement Sackett and cooperative federalism. Disputed: Stakeholders dispute the proper boundary of federal Clean Water Act jurisdiction. Still unknown: The exact supplemental language until Federal Register publication and the final option chosen. The next verifiable development is federal register publication will start the formal comment period. Those distinctions matter because they keep this report tied to the dated record instead of turning an opening action, preliminary filing, or early result into a conclusion the evidence does not yet support.
The publication checkpoint remains narrow and specific: EPA and the Army announced a supplemental WOTUS proposal and a future 30-day comment period. The report does not treat the exact supplemental language until federal register publication and the final option chosen. as settled. Readers should measure the next update against the promised record—federal register publication will start the formal comment period.—and reject claims that skip that evidentiary step.