On Wednesday, a coalition of environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration over the Navigable Waters Protection Rule. The rule, finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in January, is the final replacement of the Obama-era Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule, which President Trump vowed to dismantle during the 2016 campaign. It limits federal jurisdiction over smaller bodies of water, a move critics say risks contamination of larger ones used for drinking water but that many states and counties support in response to the original WOTUS rule’s jurisdictional overreach. Environmental groups plan to argue in court that the rule ignores scientific studies showing how the health of larger water bodies is dependent on smaller ones while denying protections guaranteed under the Clean Water Act.
