FACT SHEET

Background Information

  • We want to continue protecting our nation’s waterways and drinking water.
  • We support the Navigable Waters Protection Rule that protects our nation’s waters and provides
    clear rules for people and communities to follow.
  • Farmers, ranchers, and small business owners want to continue protecting land and
    water in the communities where they live and work. Clean water is essential to our way
    of life and preserving our land means healthy places to live, work, and play.
  • The Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act are two separate laws that focus
    on different goals. The Clean Water Act was designed to regulate the quality of the
    nation’s surface waters, and the Safe Drinking Water Act was designed to assure the
    safety of our public drinking water supplies. Changes to the Clean Water Act regulations
    do not lessen Safe Drinking Water Act protections.

Separating Myth From Fact: Drinking Water & WOTUS

MYTH: With the Navigable Waters Protection Rule the EPA and the Corps rolled back the Clean Water Act, eliminating key protections for water quality and putting our drinking water at risk.

FACT: The Navigable Waters Protection Rule  defines the Waters of the United States (WOTUS)  under the Clean Water Act.  This  was significantly expanded by the Obama Administration in 2015 but never fully went into effect in most of the country.

MYTH: Revising Waters of the United States means rolling back the Clean Water Act

FACT: The Clean Water Act is a law, which would require Congressional action to change. The Navigable Waters Protection Rule: Definition of “Waters of the United States” is a regulation written by the EPA and Corps

  • The Clean Water Act was passed by Congress and signed into law 1972. WOTUS is a rule originally written in 1986 and revised in 1988 to clarify which waters are federally regulated under the CWA, and which waters are regulated by the states. WOTUS originally focused on waters that spanned multiple states, but for years the rule created confusion over what waters the EPA could regulate. In 2015, the Obama Administration greatly expanded the definition of WOTUS, a move which was quickly halted by the courts. The NWPR has been in effect since June 2020.

MYTH: The NWPR guts the Clean Water Act and the drinking water of 117 million Americans will be harmed.

FACT: The quality of the Nation’s drinking water is stringently protected by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.

  • The Safe Drinking Water Act seeks to protect public health by regulating the nation’s public drinking water supply, including multiple barriers against pollution, including treatment, distribution system integrity, public information, and source protection.
  • EPA sets stringent national health-based standards for drinking water to protect against both naturally-occurring and man-made contaminants. No WOTUS rule would weaken these protective requirements.
  • Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the States conduct source assessments to gather information needed to protect sources of drinking water, i.e., rivers, lakes, reservoirs, springs, and ground water wells, and the States, local governments, and water utilities, work together to protect source waters. WOTUS does not limit the ability of state and local entities from protecting source waters.

WHY WE SUPPORT THE NWPR

  • For over 20 years, uncertainty surrounding the scope of federal authority over “waters of
    the United States,” or WOTUS, has resulted in litigation and regulatory uncertainty.
    Supreme Court cases addressing these issues added additional confusion to the Clean
    Water Act’s implementation.
  • The 2015 WOTUS Rule took an unlawfully broad view of federal jurisdiction over
    waters, which was quickly halted and never implemented in much of the U.S.
  • The courts that issued final decisions on the rule struck it down as unlawful. By contrast, all attempts to block the NWPR have failed, so that rule is the law of the land in all 50 states
  • The NWPR is a commonsense rule that clearly defines what waters are subject to federal jurisdiction and what waters are subject to state protection. Farmers, ranchers, and small businesses rely on this rule which protects waterways and has been implemented and followed without confusion.
  • The NWPR empowers people and communities to continue to protect their own water resources and provide Americans the clarity to operate their businesses without having to hire an army of lawyers and consultants. We can do both.