The lawsuit an Idaho couple filed in 2008 against the Environmental Protection Agency arguing that wetlands on their property were not protected under “waters of the United States” has resulted in federal protections being stripped from millions of acres of isolated wetlands.
The EPA and Department of the Army, which oversees the Corps of Engineers, issued Tuesday their final rule amending the “Revised Definition of ‘Waters of the United States’” published Jan. 18, 2023. The EPA and Corps enforce the Clean Water Act, which prohibits the discharge of pollutants from a point source into “navigable waters,” defined as waters of the United States, or WOTUS.