• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the new definition of “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) just before the end of the year;
  • The final rule restores essential water protections that were in place prior to 2015 under the Clean Water Act for traditional navigable waters, the territorial seas, interstate waters, as well as upstream water resources that significantly affect those waters;
  • The new definition relies on the Supreme Court’s Rapanos ruling, which would recognize as jurisdictional those waters with “relatively permanent” flows but also those that have a “significant nexus” to navigable waters;
  • The rule is already receiving pushback from critics and is expected to face legal challenges along with Congressional Republicans attempts to invalidate the new definition using the Congressional Review Act (CRA);
  • The agencies may be forced to do a rewrite of the rule as soon as this year pending the outcome of Sackett vs. EPA, which is the biggest threat to the new definition though the EPA has insisted it is legally durable.