Building on the Supreme Court's 2023 Sackett v. EPA decision, the Trump administration finalized rules stripping Clean Water Act protections from an estimated up to 60% of the nation's wetlands and millions of miles of streams. These waterways can now be filled, dredged, or polluted without federal permits.
Wetlands are critical infrastructure. They filter drinking water, absorb floodwaters, recharge groundwater, and provide habitat for wildlife. The EPA's own science found that wetlands provide $23.2 billion per year in flood control services alone. Destroying them pushes flood damage onto downstream communities — often low-income neighborhoods and rural towns.
The rollback benefits real estate developers, the oil and gas industry, mining companies, and industrial agriculture — all of which had lobbied for decades to remove wetlands from Clean Water Act jurisdiction. Development projects that previously required environmental review and mitigation can now proceed without any federal oversight.
States were supposed to fill the gap, but most lack the funding, staff, or legal authority to regulate wetlands. Only about a dozen states have strong independent wetlands protections. The rest rely entirely on federal rules that no longer apply. Scientists warned the rollback would accelerate habitat loss, increase flooding, and degrade drinking water for communities downstream of unprotected wetlands.