Defining’Waters of the United States9

摘要

The question”What is water?”ought to be an easy one.Over 40 years of litigation over the meaning of”water”in the Clean Water Act of 1972(CWA)suggests otherwise.The act governs water pollution and allows the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency(EPA)to sue polluters of”waters with a significant nexus to navigable waters.”Through litigation,this definition has been expanded,and in some states includes independent stationary water features such as playas and prairie potholes. In recent years,industry concerns have been raised about the Clean Water Rule(aka Waters of the United States(WOTUS)Rule),a regulation published in 2015 to clarify water management under the CWA.WOTUS attempts to define exactly which waters are subject to the federal government's enforcement and which should be left to the states.In 2019,the EPA published a transformed rule,raising the ire of environmentalist groups.How did the CWA turn into a muddy puddle?