WASHINGTON — The Administration has announced it will reconsider the 2020 Navigable Waters rule but has not yet said whether it would repeal the rule as it carries out the review.  

"This is a positive step toward restoring the level of clean water protections that the science and the law demand, but we are concerned that the Administration is not acting quickly enough to protect the drinking water of millions of Americans,” said Jim Murphy, director of legal advocacy for the National Wildlife Federation. “Time is of the essence: The Army Corps of Engineers has already ruled that thousands of waters are not eligible for protection under the Clean Water Act — effectively allowing them to be polluted or destroyed outright under federal law. The Administration has all it needs right now to repeal the illegal 2020 rule and we encourage them to get started.”

The Administration’s review found that the 2020 Navigable Waters rule left many streams and wetlands unprotected by the Clean Water Act. This is particularly true in arid states, like New Mexico and Arizona, where nearly every one of over 1,500 streams assessed was found to be not covered by the current rule.