The Biden administration said on Friday that it’ll take a two-step approach to decide which U.S. waters should get federal protections from pollution, returning first to pre-Obama protections.
A statement from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said that a “forthcoming foundational rule” would temporarily restore protections that were in place prior to an Obama-era expansion in 2015.
Last year, the Trump administration put forward a rule that undermined both the Obama-era protections and also rolled back some protections, including for wetlands, that had been in place for decades.
It appears that the step announced by the EPA on Friday would be a middle ground between the Obama- and Trump-era rules.
The agency said that its initial rule would contain some “updates” to account for decisions issued by the Supreme Court.
The second step would be an additional rule that will “refine this regulatory foundation” and create “an updated and durable definition of 'waters of the United States,'" the agency said. ..MORE
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